


Legends Never Die

by bilinskibutt



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting Back Together, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-05-06 07:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 46,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bilinskibutt/pseuds/bilinskibutt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven years after the finale Rory is back for Richard's funeral and has a run in with an unexpected guest. It's been years since Logan's departure from her life and now it's up to her to decide whether or not she's ready to let him back in it, maybe this time for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> So I started rewatching gilmore girls a few months ago and quickly remembered why I loved this show so much, Rory and Logan especially. Aaaand then I got to the end. That devastating, heartbreaking end. I refuse to accept that these two don't end up together, so here we are. Starting up seven years after the finale, this is essentially what I'm hoping for in the Netflix revival, wishful thinking, but that's what fanfiction is for after all.

The call comes on a Tuesday morning. Her mother's voice is wobbly, like she's trying to hold it together but ultimately failing. "It's your grandpa," she says, and Rory knows. It's a perfectly nice day, blue sky, not a cloud to be seen; if her life was a movie it would be raining.

&

She calls the office, packs her bags, and is back in Hartford in record time. Lorelai's car is already parked in the driveway when she pulls up. She's barely out of the car when Lorelai is opening the front door and ambushing her daughter with a tight hug, Rory returns it just as fiercely. When they pull back she studies her mother's face. Her eyes are red and puffy but it doesn't look like she was just crying; hair in a haphazard ponytail and dressed in her usual laundry day outfit it's obvious how rushed she must have been. She knows from their earlier phone call that Emily had called her around seven, when Richard still hadn't gotten out of bed and she'd gone up to check on him, only to find the thing she feared the most. It was a heart attack that did him in, despite all the precautions and surgeries, it still happened. The truth of the matter is that she still hasn't been able to fully process the situation, her world without Richard Gilmore? Impossible, completely nonsensical.

"How are you doing?" Rory asks finally, she feels like she's been standing in this driveway for ages.

Lorelai shrugs, her hands clench and relax like she doesn’t know what to do with them. "I don't really know, kid," she answers honestly, her voice rough.

Rory nods. "Me too. How's grandma?"

Her mom's lips quirk in a sad smile. "She's Emily Gilmore. In between cursing him for going first even when they'd _clearly_ had an agreement, she's barking orders and firing maids, making plans to sue doctors, the usual."

"Poor grandma."

Lorelai nods and wraps an arm around Rory's shoulder, leading them back towards the door. "Yeah, poor grandma."

&

The rest of week is spent helping with the funeral and memorial arrangements, Rory's DAR skills making a much needed appearance as her grandmother's ability to take charge dwindles in the wake of her grief. Her mom does her best to keep Emily going, Sookie stops by more than once bearing food and to have Emily sign off of the menu for the wake, which seems to break her out of her mourning for at least a little bit. They stay at Emily's house, Luke bringing them things they need from Stars Hollow and stopping by as much as possible to check on them.

The wake starts late Saturday afternoon, it's held at the Gilmore manor which is decorated tastefully of course with a large picture of Richard standing in the living room as the focal point; they'd opted out of having the actual body present during the affair. They stay mainly in the living room as people filter in and out in a blur to offer their condolences, friends of her grandparents offer lighthearted anecdotes and waiters keep the drinks coming.

Rory excuses herself eventually and slips out the back door to the patio surrounding the pool. Irrationally, she finds herself wondering if anybody ever even used the pool, she certainly hasn't, maybe her mom did when she was young, but the idea of her grandparents in bathing suits is laughable at best. She wonders though if maybe her grandfather had enjoyed the water and she just hadn't known it. She's moving before she even registers it, heels kicked off she takes a seat at the edge of the pool and dips her feet in. The water's chilly; it's late September now, the nights getting cooler as they venture further into fall. She ignores the chill, lazily kicking her feet and watching the ripples reflect onto the trees above. It's calm, peaceful even, the exact opposite of how she feels.

The relationship she shared with her grandpa was a complicated one, there's no way around it. For the first half of her life she'd hardly known the man, only visiting on the holidays. With the instatement of Friday night dinners she'd been able to grow closer the man, she'd grown to love him, bonded over a love of literature, Yale, and the occasional trip to the country club. They'd had rough patches, but never once had she wished the man out of her life. The fact that he isn't in it anymore makes her head spin and heart physically ache.

Taking a deep breath she closes her eyes, feet making small waves in the cold water she allows herself to take comfort in the solitude she's found here.

Moments later she hears the door open and close, figuring it's her mom come to wrangle her back into the grief stricken  house she makes no move from her spot. Only the voice that calls out to her is decidedly not her mother's. She's not entirely surprised that he's here, her grandfather was friends with his parents after all, or rather they'd kept up the appearances of being friendly, but it still feels like a shock to her system.

"Hey, Ace," he's quiet, like he knows that any louder it would shatter her sanctuary. Maybe he does, after all, for a long time there was no one who knew her better.

She doesn't turn to face him, not quite sure if she can after all these years, afraid of what feelings might be dredged up from where they were neatly and meticulously tucked away. He sits down next to her anyway, feet bare and pants rolled up to the knees he joins her, hissing lightly when he dips into the water.

"You're going to wrinkle your pants," is the first thing she blurts out once her brain comes back on board. She could kick herself. All this time apart and that's the first thing she says to him?

She hears him let out a small laugh and looks at him now, she can't _not_.

Logan looks great, of course he does. Older, but no worse for wear, and with a better haircut for sure. He looks exactly how she remembers and something inside of her aches.

The corner of his mouth quirks in that smirk that used to drive her crazy in the best way. "I could care less about the pants. How are you holding up?" His eyes are so warm, concern clear across his face, tone sincere. It's been seven years and she feels like nothing's changed.

In the back of her mind she knows it has. She knows how they parted wasn't necessarily on the best of terms, that's there's a lot of pain and mistakes between them, and if they'd run into each other under other circumstances their reunion would take a totally different direction, but right now she lets herself have this, even if it's just for a moment.

"I don't really know," she admits slowly. "It doesn't even feel real."

He shakes his head. "I'm so sorry; I know that doesn't make anything better and you're probably sick of hearing it, but I am."

She just looks at him for a moment, takes it all in, everything she's feeling, everything that's happened, and she makes up her mind. "Will you do something with me?"

"Absolutely," he resolves without pause.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask," she counters.

"Never stopped me before."

Briefly she wonders if he's still the same impulsive Logan she knew, or if growing up and running his own company squandered that part of him and he's only humoring her because she's hurting. But then, she decides, what does it matter? She's allowed to have this if he's willing to give it her, and besides, it's not like she's planning to steal a yacht again.

"Alright, come on, Huntzberger." She pulls her slightly numb feet out of the water and pushes herself up, Logan following suit. There are towels just inside the pool house and she grabs one for each of them so they can dry off before righting themselves. She leads them into the house through one of the escape routes her mom taught her so they can avoid all the mourning aristocrats. The hallway is clear and they're able to duck into the study without being seen.

"So what's the plan, Ace?" Logan asks as he shuts the door behind them.

She ignores the warmth that ignites in her chest at the familiar nickname, she figures the use of it doesn't mean anything anyway, he's just used to it. Three years they were together and she can probably count how many times he used her actual name on one hand. Instead, she pulls open the middle desk drawer and grabs the humidor stashed there. Logan raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment.

"Pour us both a glass, would you?" she asks, nodding towards the decanter filled with her grandfather's preferred scotch. 

"Alright," he says, the look on his face says he's confused but he goes with it anyway.

"We're going to celebrate his life the right way," Rory says as an explanation. "I can't sit in that room any longer, so we're going to smoke his cigars, drink his scotch, and we're not going to be miserable," she says definitively.

Logan grins and sets the glasses down on the desk in front of her. "Yes ma'am."

"Now," she says, holding a cigar in one hand and an elaborate looking lighter in the other. "I have no idea how to do this."

He laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners and reaches for the items. "I'll take care of it."

He does.

&

"Okay," Rory laughs, scotch making her feel better than she has in longer than she can remember right now. "But the time he came to school and started talking to you about wedding plans I thought you were going to pass out!" She laughs again and takes a puff of her cigar, the taste is terrible but she appreciates the sentiment enough. Even in her drunken haze she's competent enough to wonder if the mention of weddings will ruin this comfortable bubble they've made. Luckily that doesn't seem to be the case.

Logan shakes his head vigorously. "That was just plain mean, Gilmore. I thought I was having a heart attack. Finn was a moment away from having to resuscitate me."

Rory smiles fondly from her perch on the edge off the desk, bare feet swinging back and forth. "Grandpa was so proud of himself, he bragged about that for weeks." She traces the rim of her glass with the tip of her finger as she reminisces about the time spent with him.

Logan sits on the chair below her and places a hand lightly on her knee. It's comforting, the weight of his hand grounding her.

"He was a cool guy," he agrees quietly. He lifts up his mostly empty glass, "To Richard," he toasts.

Rory nods and lifts her glass as well. "To Richard," she repeats and clinks her glass against his.

Lorelai walks in as they're taking a drink.

"Boy does this bring back memories," she says, surprise evident in both her voice and expression as she takes in the scene in front of her. "Well, at least you're fully dressed this time."

"Lorelai," Logan greets. He sets down the tumbler and cigar and stands up, buttoning his suit jacket as he does so. Rory stands as well and shoves her feet back into her shoes. "I'm so sorry for your loss," he adds.

Lorelai nods, "Thank you, Logan." She turns to Rory then with a rather obvious look of incredulity on her face. "Come on, Rory, you've been gone long enough that grandma finally realized you were missing."

"Right, I'll be right out," she says and hopes that her mom will allow her and Logan one last moment together.

The look Lorelai gives her promises a thorough interrogation in her future, but she ducks out of the room nonetheless.

Once the door shuts she turns to Logan who looks as awkward as she suddenly feels.

"Logan," she starts and he looks up from where he'd been gazing at his feet to meet her eyes. "Just- Thank you," she finally settles on. "for everything."

"You're welcome, but you really don't have to thank me."

It's so reminiscent of when her grandfather had been in the hospital and Logan had been incredibly attentive, that she feels her breath catch for a moment, emotions rushing forth, emotions that shouldn't even exist after all this time apart. She has the overwhelming urge to hug him, but feels like that would be crossing the line, so she abstains. She can't help but wonder though what it would be like if she gave in to such a simple pleasure. Does he still hug as tightly, does he still feel as safe as she remembers? It's a slippery slope, one she can't afford to tumble down, so she banishes the thought.

"I should probably clean this up," she says, looking at the empty glasses and ash tray.

Logan shakes his head. "Nah, I've got this. You go be with your family."

She deliberates for a minute before nodding and leaves before she has the time to do something she'll regret when she's less emotionally compromised.

"You have _so much_ explaining to do," Lorelai says out of the corner of her mouth when Rory joins her on the couch.

&

 


	2. two

Once everyone has left and the house has been returned to normal Rory retires to her room. She goes through her nightly routine efficiently, albeit a bit groggily, and when she finds Lorelai waiting for her on the bed as she exits the bathroom she isn't surprised.

"Do we have to do this now? I think next week or never even sounds better."

"Oh no," Lorelai says, her eyes gleaming in a way that means trouble. "I wanna hear all about it while the details are still fresh in your mind," she explains gleefully. "I mean, _Logan_ ," she adds, a bit more somber now. "honey, that's a big deal, there's no way we can _not_ talk about it."

Rory shrugs, arms crossed against her chest. "I guess."

Lorelai pats the bed next to her. "Come on, tell me all about it."

She does. She tells her about Logan showing up at the pool, about how they'd snuck off to the office to reminisce, about how it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be around him again. Lorelai doesn't interrupt, at least not too much, letting her get everything off her chest until finally she runs out of things to say.

Emotions pass over Lorelai's face as she seems to consider what to ask first. "So is he back, or did he just fly in for the funeral?" she settles on eventually.

"I don't know," Rory answers. "We didn't really talk about anything personal." She frowns now realizing  that she might have wasted her only opportunity to talk to him again. But then, what would she even have said? There's so much that's happened between them she doesn't even know where she would start.

Lorelai makes a face. "Okay," she says slowly. "But if he's only here for the funeral that could be a pretty big sign."

Rory's eyebrows scrunch together in incredulity. "A sign?"

"Yeah, well, I mean why would he fly across the country for a funeral of a man he wasn't even that close to? Sure they knew each other and got along okay, but it's not like they kept in touch after you two split. Don't get me wrong, coming to pay his respects  is a perfectly reasonable and respectable explanation, but his parents were here so it's not like he was required to show up as the face of the Huntzberger family. _But_ he must have known how upset you would be, is it crazy to think that maybe he showed up just for you?"

Rory nods her head. "Yes. Yes it is crazy and you need to get that idea out of your head immediately. Logan came to pay his respects and that's it."

"Fine," Lorelai says, but Rory knows better than to think she's going to just stop there. "But would it really be so bad if he did come for you?" she asks softly.

Rory stares at her in confusion. "What are you even saying right now?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that you've been apart for seven years and you haven't had one serious relationship since then. What if this is a good thing?"

She can't even compute what she's hearing right now. Her mom suggesting that Logan being in her life could be good for her? She must have stepped into an alternate dimension. She knows that towards the end Lorelai wasn't totally against Logan anymore, but it's not like she was ever his number one fan, and she had thought their splitting up had been for the best in the end. Right now she can't even begin to parse through sheer outlandishness of this conversation, so she focuses on the first part of her mother's comment instead.

"I have too had a serious relationship since Logan. I dated Scott for over a year," she argues. Scott Callaway, an investment banker she'd met at some function for work when she bumped into him by accident and ended up wearing his drink. He took her out for coffee to make up for it and things had gone from there. He was kind and honest, occasionally reminding her a bit of Marty, they'd worked well together, but it hadn't been enough in the end. They broke up about six months ago, and truth be told she didn't spend much time thinking about him.

Lorelai's smile is half-hearted. "You bailed out the moment he asked you to move in with him though."

"It was a big deal! I wasn't ready for that."

Lorelai nods. "Did you even hesitate when you moved in with Logan?"

"No, but-" But there were extenuating circumstances, she wants to say. Instead she's cut off by Lorelai.

"Look, babe, I'm gonna say something you might not want to hear, but I think you need to. I don't think you were ever in love with Scott, I think you could have stayed with him forever and you never would have loved him no matter how much you wanted to. He was your Max Medina," she says gently.

"He was not my Max Medina," Rory insists.

Lorelai nods. "He was your Max. He was loyal and comfortable and safe, but that was it. Sweetie, in that brief moment I saw you with Logan tonight you looked happier than you ever did in that year you spent with Scott. Maybe you need this. Maybe you need to try this one last time, even if it's just to get him out of you system for good. At least clear the air so maybe you can move on."

Rory scrubs a hand over her face. "I can't believe I'm hearing you say this right now. I can't believe you're _endorsing_ Logan Huntzberger."

Lorelai shrugs. "I'm not endorsing him, and I'm definitely not saying that you should just ignore everything he did back then and just throw yourself into something right away, but all I want in this world is for you to be happy, Rory. You two had your ups and downs, there's no debating that, but he made you happy. So if you decide that you ever want to try it again I'll support you all the way."

Rory rubs her sleeve over her suddenly wet eyes, feeling emotionally overwhelmed from the day and this conversation, and gives her mom a watery smile before leaning in and wrapping her arms around her. "Thank you," she mumbles into her shoulder as Lorelai hugs her back.

She can feel her mom kiss the top of her head in response. "Any time, kid."

"But you know," Rory says as she pulls back, "this whole conversation might have been for nothing, because we still have no idea if he's even back on the east coast. And I don't even know what I want to do about the whole situation. I haven't had enough time to even sort out how I feel about all of this."

Lorelai nods as she stands up. "Well when you do figure it all out you know I'm here for you. Now get some sleep, we've got a long day ahead of us."

They exchange their goodnight's and Rory wiggles her way underneath the covers. After double checking that her alarm is set she turns off the lamp on the bedside table and does her best to obey her mom's orders.

&

Waking up to the incessant ringing of the alarm and a headache makes for a less than great start to her day, the fact that she's headed to a funeral doesn't help.

The wake had been for her grandfather's large social group, the funeral however, is strictly for family and close friends. Despite knowing this and having intimate knowledge of who's to be attending considering that she's the one who sent out the letters; she's still half expecting to find Logan there, and she hates herself a bit because of it. One hour spent with him and he's already wormed his way back into her constant thoughts, it's pathetic.

He isn't there. It's not surprising, but she can't help the hint of disappointment she feels.

The funeral is awful, as to be expected. She cries, her mom cries, Emily does her best to appear dignified, but she still cries. Luke keeps his arm wrapped around Lorelai and she wishes that she had someone there to do the same for her. Instead she reaches over and grabs her grandma's hand; Emily looks vaguely surprised at the gesture for a moment before squeezing Rory's hand in response.

The casket is lowered into the earth and the first thud of dirt hitting it seems to finalize the reality that he isn't coming back. She feels sick, but she supposes most people who attend funerals probably do.

&

Rory heads back to New York after the service, she would have stayed longer but she has work first thing in the morning and the traffic into the city is always hell on the weekends. By the time she's unlocking her apartment door it's late in the evening and she feels both physically and emotionally exhausted. As much as she'd love to just crawl into bed and bury herself underneath a pile of blankets, she's been ignoring her work email all week and she can't let it pile up any further.

She sets her laptop up on the coffee table and gets to work. There are emails from her editor, possible leads for future stories, messages that should have been sent to someone else all together, but beneath all of those is something she wasn't expecting. An email from one lhuntzberger sent in the late hours after the wake. With a no small amount of trepidation she clicks on it.

_Rory,_

_I don't really know how to say this, you were always better at putting thoughts into writing than I was anyway. But here's the thing, I just wanted to let you know that despite everything that happened and the way we left off, if you ever need anything you can come to me, no matter what. I just needed you to know that you can still count on me, if you want to I'm here. I know that losing your grandfather has to be hard on you, but you're made of tougher stuff, Ace; you've been through a lot and you'll get through this too, I promise._

_I don't know if your number's the same, or if you even still have mine, hell if you'd even_ want _to, but feel free to call or text me if you need anything or even you just want someone to talk to._

_It was good to see you, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. Take care of yourself, Ace._

_Master and Commander._

Rory can't fight back the smile at the sign off, or at the whole message really. She lets herself bask in the warmth for a moment and then begins to analyze the hell out of the thing.

For starters, he started the message with her name, her _real_ name. Back at her grandparent's vow renewal, when she'd put herself out there, he'd called her Rory because he wanted to be clear, be serious with her; so starting the message off like that had to a deliberate move, right? Secondly there's the whole 'you can come to me for anything' thing. There's no way to not read something into that. It's not like it's common practice for someone who's been rejected to offer unconditional comfort. Does this mean that he _wants_ her to need him? To call him? Does he want to see her again? Or is he simply just being a decent human being and offering a shoulder to someone he used to know? But the biggest thing, the most important piece of information, isn't even in his words at all. It's at the bottom of the page, where his name, the name of his company, his phone number, and address are stated. His address that is conveniently enough located in Manhattan.

It's a lot to take in, way too much for her tired brain, so she shelves it for the time being and gets back to work related items. However, she ends up spending most of the time wondering if she should message him back, or if she should just leave it be, and what would she even say if she did reply?

With a glass of wine in one hand and her phone in the other she sends the text before she can convince herself not to.

It simply reads, _thank you_ , but her heart is pounding like the first time she ever sent him a dirty text. She tosses her phone on the couch and resolutely does not check it until she feels sufficiently caught up enough to allow herself to go to sleep. There's one message waiting for her; it's just as simple as hers but it makes something in her stir regardless.

_Anytime._

 


	3. Chapter 3

The next week passes in a blur; she follows leads and writes through the night to meet deadlines, she has her weekly Skype calls with her mom, and she doesn't hear from Logan.

She's not surprised though. It was pretty clear that if communication was going to be opened back up she was going to be the one to start it, and while she appreciated that, she also hated it. The more she thought about his letter and the conversation she'd had with her mom the more she's (reluctantly) willing to admit that she wouldn't hate it if Logan were to make another appearance in her life. The problem is that she has no idea how to go about getting that to happen. Less than a month away from her thirtieth birthday and boys are still giving her trouble.

On Friday night she decides she needs to take her mind off everything and calls up Lucy and Olivia who are more than happy to help her out with that. They end up at some trendy new club that one of Olivia's artist friend's is able to get them into without waiting in line outside. They don't ask what caused the sudden need for a night out, but she ends up telling them over drinks anyway. So much for getting her mind off it.

"What are you going to do?" Lucy asks once Rory is finishes divulging the details.

Rory takes a large sip of her martini. "I don't know, she says, shaking her head helplessly. "Is it stupid that I want to see him again? Even after everything that happened back then. It _is_ stupid, isn't it. I'm being stupid."

Olivia and Lucy rush to console her, Lucy pulling her into her side and Olivia rubbing circles on her back.

"You're not stupid," Olivia reassures her. "You and Logan were together for a long time, I mean you guys were practically married." She winces at her choice of words and Rory waves off her apology easily. They did act like a married couple after all. "You're bound to have at least some residual feelings flare up where he's concerned."

Lucy nods. "You know what they say; the heart wants what the heart wants," she says with a shrug and throws back the last of her drink. "Like, I know the whole marriage proposal ultimatum thing was a total dick move, but it's been seven years, who knows what he's like now. I think at the very least you should call him so you guys can talk about everything."

"Yeah," Olivia says with a nod. "It couldn't hurt, could it?"

That was the million dollar question, wasn't it. She'd like to say that the girls are right and there's no way talking could make things worse, but then she's also not going to tempt the universe by doing so. She decides that right now the best course of action is to stop discussing it and focus on something else, luckily for her the girls always have stories to tell.

She's lost count of how many drinks they've had, but she knows she hasn't had enough. The girls are out dancing and she's up at the bar trying to grab the bartender's attention when she hears an unmistakable voice cut through the rest of the crowd. She turns towards the sound and sure enough, Finn is stumbling his way towards the bar, Colin not far behind. Shaking her head in disbelief she leans against the bar and waits for them to wade through the crowd.

Surprisingly Finn appears to be sober enough to remember who she is judging by the look of recognition that flashes across his face. "Do I know you?" he asks, lips curling up in a grin.

She rolls her eyes at the familiar line. "Been awhile, huh?"

"Too damn long!" he exclaims and without warning he's pulling her into a hug that she returns easily. He smells like expensive cologne and even pricier alcohol, classic Finn. He pulls back and keeps his hands on her shoulders taking in her appearance. "My God, you're stunning. Look at her, Colin, she hasn't changed a bit." He turns to Colin like he's waiting for him to agree, Colin doesn't disappoint.

"An absolute doll," Colin says with a decisive nod.

"I suspect witchcraft," Finn tosses back.

" Indubitably."

"So," Finn says turning back to her. "What are you drinking? It's on me tonight."

"You don't have to do that," she protests. "I'm just grabbing drinks for me and my friends, you don't need to pay for that."

"Nonsense! Put it on the tab, love, I insist."

Knowing that she's fighting a losing battle she concedes and the boys order a round of something that she knows she'll regret in the morning. They follow her back to where Lucy and Olivia have managed to snag a booth in a secluded corner while she was gone. She doesn't know if they know who Colin and Finn are, she can't remember if they'd ever crossed paths in the past, but if they do they don't mention it.

"Ooh you brought boys," Lucy coos as they sit down.

"And liquor," Olivia adds with a grin. "I like them already."

Finn grins and leans over towards her. "I do aim to please, love."

Olivia scoffs. "Save it, I'm taken."

Finn shrugs and picks up a drink. "Pity," he says but he doesn't sound too broken up over it.

The night continues from there, the five of them throwing back shots, dancing and talking and laughing. She learns that Finn and Colin have found their calling as club promoters, something she can hardly believe is an actual job, but here they are. They don't mention Logan, which could be out of respect for her, or maybe the they're not as close with him as they used to be now that Logan has his own business. She wants to ask but she bites her tongue, talking about Logan defeats the purpose of going out to forget about Logan. Although the fact that she's hanging out with his college friends isn't exactly helping the cause either.

On the whole the guys don't seem to have changed much; they're still the same immature, obnoxious boys she wrangled into the backseat of her car all those years ago. She can't decide if it's nice to know that some things don't change, or sad that they still act like entitled frat boys at their age. There is one noticeable difference though, neither of them have run off to chase after some poor unsuspecting girl since they ran into each other.

"Not that it isn't nice to see you two again, but I can't help but feel like we're cutting into precious scoring time," she says with a bite of sarcasm.

Finn shakes his head. "Doubtful. I scanned the place when we came in, I don't seem to be missing much. And this one here," he says with a thumb hitching towards Colin, "went and got himself engaged to an upper east side socialite."

Rory's eyes widen in honest surprise. "Oh my god, Colin! You're engaged?" She can't seem to keep the disbelief out of her voice, but really who could expect her to?

Colin nods. "Still not quite sure how it happened to be honest."

"Well, congratulations either way," Rory says raising her glass.

"Here, here!" Finn cries, lifting his glass as well.

)()(

It's late when they're finally stumbling out of the club. The guys are plastered, the girls not fairing much better.

"You have to let us give you girls a ride home," Finn slurs as he leans against a lamp post, there's black town car a little ways down the street that most likely belongs to one of them.

Colin nods slowly, like if he bobs his head to fast he'll lose his balance. "We insist."

"Not necessary, boys. We're only a block away," Lucy informs them.

Finn squints at her. "But that's so far."

The girls ignore him and exchange goodbye's with Rory before heading back to their apartment, leaving her to deal with the two drunken idiots.

"Rory, darling, you have to come with us," Finn reiterates rather loudly.

"He'll never be able to get to sleep if he doesn't see you home safely himself," Colin adds.

"I'm a traditionalist like that."

Rory sighs, it was always so much easier to just roll with it when it came to these two, and honestly she's so ready to get to bed that the thought of hailing a cab is repulsive. "Well we can't have that, now can we?"

)()(

Saturday morning greets her with the worst hangover she's had in years. As much as she'd like to just waste the day away hiding under the covers, they've yet to invent headboards with built in coffee makers. Gingerly she pushes out of bed and pads into the kitchen. In the cupboard there's a bag of nondescript coffee beans, the same kind Luke uses at the diner. He'd given her a bag with very specific brewing instructions which she follows to the T, but she's long ago come to the conclusion that coffee always tastes better when someone else makes it for you.

While waiting for her precious beverage to finish percolating, she grabs her phone from the kitchen table where she'd left it last night and finds a myriad of notifications waiting for her. She starts with the texts in case she's missed anything important and finds that she maybe should have started with something else.

The first message is from her mom, informing her of some new and undoubtedly disturbing behavior Paul Anka has picked up. She's not awake enough to come up with a witty response so she leaves it alone for the time being. The second message is even more confusing, the sender of course is none other than one Logan Huntzberger.

_A night out with Colin and Finn, huh? How's that hangover feeling this morning?_

She frowns at the screen. How did he know who she was with last night? She supposes it would make sense that the guys had told him about their run in, but with the way they'd avoided mentioning him last night she had assumed that the encounter was just between them. Turns out her answers lie in her awaiting Instagram notifications.

At some point in the night the boys had commandeered her phone, stating that they needed to exchange numbers so that they could set up another outing, apparently they'd also grabbed her instagram name. Admittedly she didn't use her account that much, she mostly made it to keep up with people she doesn't get to see very often, like those back in Stars Hollow or people she's met on her travels, so having a string of notifications wasn't something she was used to seeing. The one that seemed to start it all was a photo she'd been tagged in late last night, or rather early this morning. She barely even remembers the picture being taken, she thinks Lucy had been the one to take it for them. It features Rory sitting in the middle of Colin and Finn, practically squished between them, with Finn kissing her cheek exaggeratedly and Colin's arm wrapped around her; she's smiling at the camera, obviously drunk, but happy all the same. The caption simply reads: _always a pleasure_.

There's a ridiculous amount of likes and a smattering of comments that she's not even going to bother to read, but she's pretty confident that this is how Logan found out. She wonders how he feels about her hanging out with those two. His text doesn't make it seem like there's any hard feelings, but then it's so hard to tell from a text.

The coffee maker is finally done and the first taste of hot coffee on her tongue is like reaching nirvana.

She likes the picture and follows the boys back because she always feels awkward when someone follows her and she doesn't reciprocate. She finishes scrolling through the rest of the notifications, glances at her emails, and when she finally runs out ways to procrastinate she opens his text back up. She doesn't know what to say, her brain feels so jumbled, she ends up just typing the first thing that comes to mind; it isn't poetry but it's the truth.

_Ughhh. I can't even think of words to describe it, that's how indisposed I am. I am far too old to think that I can keep up with them._

She pours herself another cup of coffee and pops a few aspirin in hopes that this headache will get the hint and disappear already. Her phone buzzes against the countertops moments later and she tries not to be too eager to check it, however her will power is weak this morning and she gives in quickly.

_Well you can't be that bad if you're using words like indisposed. And to be fair I don't think age has much to do with it, nobody can keep up with Colin and Finn except Colin and Finn._

She huffs a laugh at his response and texts him back.

_If I remember correctly you never seemed to have a problem keeping pace._

Grabbing her mug she relocates back to her bedroom and grabs her laptop off the nightstand. Hangover days are decidedly Netflix days and she plans to spend it properly. Her phone buzzes but she ignores it in favor of getting comfortable in bed. Once the pillows are stacked nicely behind her and she has a sufficient amount of blankets and coffee in hand she opens the message.

_They've upped their game since then, I'm no match._

_They're a menace to society and they need to be stopped_ , she sends back.

Her phone stays silent for a while and she finds herself debating whether or not she should just ask what's been on her mind since she read his email. Finally she just decides to go for it, like the girls said, it can't hurt anything.

_So I couldn't help but notice in your email that address is in New York and not California._

She leaves it at that, though she has so much more she wants to add. She doesn't know what she's hoping to hear from him. Does she want him to be back in the same state as her? It's not like they'd be running into each other constantly anyway, New York is full of people and they don't really run in the same circles. The thing is, she wouldn't totally mind it if they did happen to see each other occasionally. Her mind still isn't completely made up on whether or not she'd be willing to try again with him, and she doesn't even know if _he_ 'd want to; she did reject his proposal after all, and for all she knows he could have moved on completely by now. He may even have a girlfriend or a wife, a thought that makes her already unsettled stomach twist. But what right does she have to feel upset over the possibility of him being in a relationship? She's the one who turned him down, she should want him to be happy even if it isn't with her.

Forcing herself to calm down and forget about it for at least right now she turns her attention back to today's binge watch show of choice. She does a pretty good job of immersing herself into the plot and barely notices when her phone vibrates beside her. She feels ridiculous for being so anxious just because of a text but she can't deny that she is.

_Yeah it's a pretty recent thing, I just moved back a few months ago to oversee the opening of the east coast office._

While that answered one question it also seemed to create more, the biggest one being: is he staying? She decides to start with lighter conversation topics instead.

_That's great, it sounds like business is doing well then._

It sounds generic and lame even to her, but she feels like she has to dissect everything she says before sending it and it's probably best if she keeps some distance between them for the time being. Getting too attached too quickly can only end in disaster.

_Better than ever, Ace. Hey, I'm sorry I've got to go take care of some things, but it was really good talking to you._

She's disappointed at the abrupt end of their conversation, but she understands. Logan is a busy business man now and he doesn't have Saturday's to waste away in bed. It's a bit of a depressing thought, but then that's adulthood for you.

_You too_ , she responds simply because it's the truth. It _was_ really nice to talk to him.

Her mom is going to be so smug that she was right.

)()(

The next weekend she finds herself back in Stars Hollow for no reason other than she didn't feel like spending another weekend laying around her apartment. She meets up with Lorelai at Luke's diner where she's already waiting for her at a table near the window with two coffee mugs in front of her.

"Rory, light of my life!" Lorelai cries when she walks through the door, the little bell jingling as it opens.

She rolls her eyes. "It hasn't been that long since we've seen each other you know."

Lorelai gasps in mock offence. "Two weeks is a lifetime for some creatures I'll have you know."

"And luckily you're not one of them," Rory replies as she drops down into the chair across from her and takes a sip from her cup.

Lorelai sulks and sticks out her bottom lip like a petulant toddler. "You're no fun today."

"My sincerest apologies. Now tell me what's new around here."

That's enough to get her to stop pouting and she's quickly bringing Rory back up to date with the Stars Hollow news.

"So Kirk fell off Andrew's roof when he was installing a satellite or something. He broke his arm but he's totally fine otherwise, or as fine as Kirk ever is."

"I can't believe you people still let him use a ladder."

"I think we're voting on that in the next town meeting," Lorelai says seriously. "Now for the less fun news, grandma's decided she wants to sell the house."

"What?" Rory exclaims.

Lorelai nods. "Yeah, she says the place is just too big for one person plus their army of servants. She won't admit it but I think it's just too painful for her to live there without dad."

Rory nods. "I get it, it's probably really hard for her to be around all those memories. But how do you feel about the house being sold?"

Lorelai shrugs. "It's not like I had the best memories in that place. I think she should do whatever she needs to in order to move on."

"That's very mature of you," Rory assesses.

"I think that husband of mine is starting to rub off on me, I'm not sure if I like it."

"What was that about me rubbing off on you?" Luke asks as he shows up to refill their cups.

Lorelai gets a big grin on her face and before she can even open her mouth he's cutting her off.

" _Don't_ say dirty," he groans.

Lorelai's mouth snaps closed and for the second time today she pouts. So much for that sudden burst of maturity.

Rory grimaces. "Oh gross," she mutters.

Lorelai grins unapologetically and Luke changes the topic by quickly asking her what she'd like to order. Once she's decided and it's just the two of them again Lorelai continues to fill her in on the town gossip. Apparently Babette adopted another cat, this one named Papaya.

During the conversation her phone vibrates in her pocket and she fishes it out to check it. It's probably ridiculous that her heart still speeds up when she sees that it's Logan, but what can she do. They've been messaging tentatively since the morning of her hangover of astronomical proportions. They don't talk about anything serious really, and they definitely don't mention the whole 'we used to date' thing, which makes things a bit awkward at times, but it's better than nothing. Mostly their texts are comprised of them exchanging books they think the other would like and random things they see during the day that they feel the need to share.

Right now Logan is apparently on babysitting duty for Honor and is getting his butt kicked by her four year old son in Chutes and Ladders.

"Who are you texting?" Lorelai asks, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as Rory's fingers fly across the screen of her phone.

_I didn't even know they made that game anymore._

"Nobody," she says. Which the exact worse response she could have come up, because obviously she's talking to somebody and saying nobody is the quickest way to arise suspicion.  She knows this and yet.

Lorelai raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?" It's obvious that she's waiting for Rory to fold, but she's not sure if she's ready to admit that she's opened communication back up between the two of them despite her mom saying that she would support her decision.

"It's just someone from work, it's not important," she insists.

Her mom scoffs in disbelief. "Then why are you flushed?"

"I am not _flushed_ ," Rory argues indignantly.

"Oh yes you are. You're totally flushed. Luke, is she or is she not flushed?" Lorelai calls as she catches him rounding the corner with Rory's pancakes.

He looks a bit reluctant to step into whatever this is, but answers nonetheless. "She's a little flushed."

"Okay! Can everyone please stop saying the word flushed," Rory cries, face definitely red now at her outburst as the few people in the diner turn to stare at her.

Luke puts the plates down in front of her and makes a strategic retreat back into the security of the kitchen.

Lorelai grins like she knows she's already won. "Just tell me who it is."

Rory groans and gets the urge to bang her head on the table, if her face wouldn't land in pancakes she might go for it. "It's Logan, you big smug jerk," she relents.

Her mom gasps dramatically. "I don't even know where to start with that. The fact that you called your sweet and loving mother a jerk, or that you've been talking to Logan and didn't tell me."

Rory sighs and takes a bite of her breakfast. "It's a pretty recent thing, and it's honestly not even that big of a deal," she says once she's swallowed.

She gets an incredulous look in response. "Not a big deal? Kid, I don't know what you consider to be a big deal, but to normal people talking to an ex, an ex who proposed to you by the way, qualifies as a big deal."

Her phone buzzes in her lap but she chooses to ignore it for the time being. "Look, it's a new thing okay? And I don't even know if it's going to turn it to anything, so I'm not going to make it out to be more than it actually is before I know _what it actually is_."

"Well what do you want it to be?" Lorelai asks softly.

Rory groans. "I don't know, that's the whole problem. I know that I like talking to him and I want to keep doing that, but I don't know if I'm up for trying the whole dating thing again. And even if I am, it's not guaranteed that he'd be willing too. This whole thing is just one big complicated mess," she grouses.

"Yeah, well, love usually is," Lorelai replies flippantly. At Rory's indignant expression she quickly adds, "I'm not saying you're still in love with him, I'm just saying that you were for a long time and anything relating to him is bound to be complicated, regardless of whether you love him or not," she explains diplomatically.

"I just wish I knew how he feels about this whole thing and then I could go from there."

"You could always try asking him," Lorelai suggests.

Rory stares at her like she's finally truly lost it. "Oh yeah, I should totally just casually ask him how he feels about me and where he thinks this thing is going. That's so easy, why didn't I come up with that before?" she says sarcastically.

"Hey, you don't need to bite my head off, I was just making a suggestion. I don't see you coming up with anything."

Rory sighs heavily. "I know, I'm sorry. You're right, I need to do something." The problem is she has no idea what.

)()(

She spends the rest of her time in Stars Hollow considering her mother's words and Lucy and Olivia's advice and eventually comes to the conclusion that they're right. It's time she sat down with Logan face-to-face and got everything out in the open for once and for all. A truly terrifying idea, but it has to be done.

She calls him when she gets back to the city early Sunday evening before she has the chance to lose her nerve.

"Hey, are you okay?" Logan asks worriedly when he picks up. She can't fault him for that response, before now they've kept communication strictly to texting and the occasional email.

"Hey, no, I'm fine. No need to worry," she reassures quickly.

"Good," he says, he sounds relieved.

"Yeah. Um, so do you have time to talk? I don't want to interrupt anything," she asks and chews nervously on her lip while she waits for his response.

"I'm totally free. What do you want to talk about?"

She takes a deep breath and tries to steel herself; this is something she has to do, no matter how terrified she is. "Logan, I can't keep doing this. This whole 'talking but not really saying anything' thing that we've been doing, I can't keep acting like there isn't all this history between us. I can't just ignore everything that happened anymore."

His side of the line is quiet long enough that she starts to think that maybe he hung up on her before she hears him sigh. "I get it," he finally replies sounding resigned. "If you want to stop talking I can respect that-"

"Wait, Logan, no! That's not what I meant," she jumps in.

He pauses. "It's not?"

"No. Is that what you want?" she asks, feeling dread pool in her stomach.

"No," he answers quickly. "That's definitely not what I want."

She feels her chest loosen a bit at hearing that. "Good. Then I think the only option for us is to sit down and talk. About everything," she stresses. "I know it won't be that easy, but I think it will be for the best."

Another pause, and then, "Okay. I'm in. Name the place and time."

 


	4. four

They meet on Wednesday at five thirty in a little bookstore coffee shop combo in SoHo that she had stumbled across within her first few months of living in the city. She's nervous despite the multiple pep talks she received from her mom, she'd called her twice for advice on what to wear when meeting up with ex and she still had difficulties settling on an outfit. In the end she decided to keep it casual; they had lived together, it's not like she really needs to impress him, he knows what he's getting.

She orders a caramel latte with extra foam and peruses the shelves for a distraction while she waits for him. She hears the door open and involuntarily checks to see if it's him. It is. He looks great, dressed in a tailored blue suit like he came straight from work, and for a minute she regrets not dressing up a bit more. But then he smiles at her like he's genuinely happy to see her and she cannot care less about the advantages between pencil skirts and jeans.

"Hey," he greets as he walks over to her.

"Hey," she says and hopes he can't hear how nervous she is.

An awkward silence develops between them like neither of them have any idea how to proceed here.

"Did you want to get some coffee?" she asks, gesturing to the counter behind him where a tired looking girl is studying what seems to be a biology book. "They make a great latte here."

He shakes his head. "I'm good, thanks. Should we sit?" he asks with a nod towards the arm chairs sitting in front of the bay window.

She nods and settles down into one of the leather chairs. Being in front of the window makes her feel on display and plays on her mounting vulnerability but she does her best to ignore it. The only thing that matters right now is Logan and sorting through what needs to be sorted. She wraps her hands around her coffee cup just to have something do to and tries to figure out where to start, but despite that fact that she's been imagining how this would go for the past three days she's drawing a blank.

"I'm sorry, I know I suggested this but I don't really know where to start," she explains.

"It's fine. I think I should probably start anyway." He pauses and collects his thoughts before saying, "I messed up, Rory," he says seriously, eyes boring into hers. "Telling you that it was all or nothing was the biggest mistake I've ever made, and I'm so sorry I did that to you. I was a total jerk trying to force your hand like that and you didn't deserve it. I just got it into my head that there was no way we could work long distance again, which was ridiculous because we did it before and I was on an entirely different continent. But that's no excuse and you had every right to turn me down like you did, I just need you to know how sorry I am that it happened that way."

She takes in every sincere, earnest word he said and feels some tension in her shoulders melt away. "I believe you," she says, "and I forgive you," because she does and she can see the relief on his face just from hearing her say that. "You know when we were together I always thought we would get married, I wanted to marry you so much," she admits, she forces herself to look at Logan and the expression on his face is indecipherable. "But everything was such a mess then. I had no idea what I was doing with my life, I didn't have any prospective jobs at the time, and I mean my mom had just gotten married and divorced over the span of a few months. I was terrified and I couldn't find it in myself to say yes to you, because it wouldn't have been fair to you if I had went it to it without being one hundred percent sure. I am sorry that I hurt you though, that's the last thing I ever wanted to happen." Feeling slightly overwhelmed, the back of her throat is itching in the way that says there's a possibility of tears happening sometime soon and she pushes it back, she refuses to cry now.

"You don't need to apologize," he tells her, voice low and deep. "What happened was on me. I'm glad that you did what was best for you, even if it hurt. Who knows what would have happened if you'd said yes, maybe we would have worked, maybe we wouldn't have, but we can't dwell on that. What matters is that you went on made something of yourself like I knew you would. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, whether that was with me or not. Although, selfishly I'll admit I'd have preferred it if it was with me," he adds.

She laughs a little because she knows that feeling and says, "I forgot how good you are at speeches."

Logan smiles. "You're no slouch yourself, Ace."

She rolls her as at him and he shakes his head. "You still don't accept compliments easily, huh?"

"I accept them just fine," she argues.

He grins widely, white teeth glinting in the light. "Whatever you say."

"So," she says, a bit reluctant to start this next topic. This is where things can either go really well or absolutely terribly. "I guess the other thing we really need to talk about is what we're doing here. I mean what do we want to happen? Do you want to be friends or something more or nothing altogether? We've been keeping things so vague, I don't even know if you're seeing someone right now." She picks at the lid of her cup anxiously as she waits for him to answer.

"I'm not seeing anyone," he's quick to assure.

"That's good," she says feigning nonchalance and wonders if he can see how relieved she feels at hearing that.

"Are you seeing someone?" he parrots, his eyes are guarded, like he's preparing for bad news.

She shakes her head. "No." She takes a sip of her drink and places it on the ledge of the window. "So where does this leave us?"

It seems like a lifetime before he finally answers. "I don't want to be friends with you," he says and she feels her heart plummet to somewhere in the vicinity of her feet. _It's okay_ , she tells herself, _that's fine_. "I knew that from the moment I met you, you were always meant to be more than that."

She can feel the hope starting the well up now and she squashes it ruthlessly. If there's no hope there's no disappointment. And there would be disappointment. She's spent these few weeks in a constant battle with her emotions, going back and forth between wanting to be with him and trying to convince herself that it would be a mistake, but she's tired of trying to deny herself this.

"If you're willing, I'd really like to try to be something with you again. I know this probably seems crazy, but we can go as slow as you want, I won't try to force you into anything you're not ready for. I get it if you're not interested in trying this again, I don't blame you if you feel that way. But I promise if you want to give this one last chance we'll do it right this time," he finishes. He looks so sincere, so hopeful, more than a bit nervous, and it pretty much seals the deal for her.

"And what if I don't want that?" she asks anyway, because she needs to know, she needs to know if there's a possibility of them continuing to talk without being romantically involved. She doesn't want an ultimatum. Not this time.

Logan swallows and looks at her, expression still so earnest. "I won't lie to you, it would be hard to just be friends with you, but if that's what you need, if that's what you want, I'll do it. I just want to be with you, Rory, whatever way you'll let me."

Relaxing her shoulders she meets his eyes and nods. "Okay," she says.

Logan squints at her. "Okay?" he asks and she can hear hurt in his voice, thinking she's telling him she'd rather be friends.

She smiles softly at him and clarifies, "I want to try again with you. But we take things slow." It's like she can finally breath again now that she's finally allowed herself to admit it both to herself and Logan. She's been trying so hard to fight it but resistance really is futile when it comes to him.

Logan gets that excited grin on his face, the one that always reminded her of a puppy, though she never told him that. "Yeah?"

She nods again. "Yeah. I'm in, Huntzberger. But we do things differently this time," she says decisively, but she's smiling despite her firm tone.

Logan nods, his leg is bouncing with excited energy that desperately needs to free itself. "Absolutely, I agree. Things will be better this time, I promise."

She knows that neither of them can really guarantee that, they have no idea what the future has in store of them, but it's nice to hear all the same.

"Stand up," he says suddenly.

She stares at him in confusion. "What?"

"Stand up, Ace," he repeats, amusement coloring his tone.

She does and as soon as she's vertical she's being wrapped in familiar arms, feet lifted off the ground easily. She squeaks in surprise before it dissolves into happy laughter and she gets her arms around his neck. When her feet are back on the ground she keeps her hold on him, not quite ready to let go after all this time apart and he seems to be totally on board with that idea.

It feels right, being back in his arms like this again. He feels safe and comfortable, not the same way being with Scott had felt safe and comfortable though, it's hard for her to explain the difference. When she was with Logan he'd challenged her to be more, and she'd wanted to, she wanted to try different things and take chances, and she knew that even if she failed she had him to lean on at the end of the day. With Scott things had been calm, while he supported her he never challenged her to be better; he wasn't the kind of guy who chased the sensation of adrenaline racing through his veins, he didn't take risks, they'd been stagnant together, neither of them jumped so there was no chance of falling. Right now, this feeling she has, is so much better. This feels like living.

He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and they just look at each other like they can't believe this moment is happening. "God I missed you," he murmurs.

"The feeling was mutual," she replies and rests her head on his shoulder. They stay like that for a minute before reluctantly pulling apart and sitting back down.

Logan keeps staring with that happy grin on his face and she starts to fidget under his gaze.

"What?" she asks when she can't take it anymore.

"You're so damn beautiful," he says simply.

She gets the overwhelming urge to kiss him then, but she doesn't. She wants to take this thing slowly, it would be so easy for this to go wrong and there's too much at stake to risk right now. So they talk instead for awhile, the air lighter now that they heavier topics are out of the way, he asks about her family and is genuinely happy when he hears that Luke and Lorelai finally got married about a year after Rory's graduation. In return he tells her about Honor's son, Elijah, and how much he loves that kid. It's nice, finally being able to talk without having to worry about sidestepping landmines. It's over far too soon in her opinion.

Logan gets a text and groans when he opens it. "It's the office," he says. "They need me back. I'm sorry, I've got to go." He looks as disappointed as she feels and for some reason she finds that reassuring.

"It's okay, you've got to go be a work dork, I get it," she teases.

_Her hand grasping his tightly from her spot on the bed, trying to drag him back down._

_Sweet kisses traded in the early morning sunlight._

_Easy grins shared._

_Work dork._

_Work dork lover._

He laughs loudly, little wrinkles  form at the corner of his eyes."You did not just call me that."

She shrugs. "What are you going to do about it?"

Logan stares at her for a moment before seeming to make up his mind. "I'm gonna take you to dinner. Are you free Friday night?"

She wasn't expecting that answer but she's definitely not upset with it. "Friday sounds good."

"Good, I'll call you before then." He stands then and she follows suit. He tucks her back into his arms, and she allows herself to cling for a moment, her eyes closing on their own accord when he presses a kiss to her forehead.

"See you Friday, Ace," he promises once they've pulled apart and then he's headed out the door.

When she finally drags her eyes away from the street she finds the girl at the counter staring at her.

"Nicholas Sparks himself could not have written that shit," the girl says succinctly.

Rory smiles awkwardly at her and ignores the blush that's no doubt covering her face from realizing that they'd held a captive audience the whole time. She grabs her bag and leaves the store without even thinking about buying a book, a first in her life for sure.

She checks her phone once she gets back to her apartment and finds multiple texts from her mom asking for updates, the last few texts consisting mostly of capslock and key smashing. She rolls her eyes and dials her.

" _Finally_ ," Lorelai sighs when she picks up the phone.

"Oh I'm sorry, have you been waiting long?" Rory asks as she sorts through her mail.

"Don't try to be cute. I'm dying here, how did it go?"

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Rory says with a grin.

"Well considering this teasing mood you seem to be in, I'm assuming things went well with Logan today."

Rory hums noncommittally as she sticks her head in the fridge in search of food. She's not too sure how long that carton of Chinese food has been sitting in there so it looks like she's going to have to order something.

"Rory," Lorelai whines. "I'm an old married woman, I have to live vicariously through you and right now you're depriving me of life."

"Somebody's extra dramatic today," Rory observes.

"Yeah well it's been a pretty slow day at the inn, I'm desperate for entertainment."

"Oh I see," she says as she boots up her laptop so she can order online, she's craving Thai tonight.

"Oh my god, Rory, you have got to give me something here!" Lorelai finally cries.

"Sorry. I just realized that I'm starving; I didn't eat anything earlier because I was so nervous and now it's caught up with me."  She gets the website up and quickly places her order, credit card information conveniently already stored on her account, bless modern day technology. "But sustenance will be on its way shortly so I will stop torturing you and tell you that things with Logan went well."

There's heavy pause on her mom's end and then a rather incredulous, " _Well_. That's all you're giving me? You sit down to talk with the guy who could have been your husband and you tell me that things went _well_?"

"Well they did."

Lorelai scoffs. "Well like you guys talked things out and came to an amicable agreement to let things lie, or well like instantaneous rekindling of love and I'm going to be receiving a save the date card in the mail any day now?"

"Neither," Rory states. "It was good. As in we've decided to give this whole relationship thing one last try," she clarifies before Lorelai can go on another rant.

"Wow," her mom says. "Okay, so that's pretty big."

Rory narrows her eyes at her tone. "Why are using that voice?"

"What voice?"

"The voice that says you have an opinion but you're not going to say it. You said you'd be supportive of whatever I decided. Plus, you were the one who put this idea in my head in the first place."

"I am supportive, hun. I just," she pauses, "I just want you to be careful. I don't want to see you get your heart broken again if this doesn't work out the way you hoped."

Rory sighs and flops down onto the couch. "I am being careful. We're going to take things slow, glacial paced, I promise."

"Good, taking things slow is good," Lorelai says soundly a little more reassured.

"This is just something I have to do," Rory tells her, tone confident. She remembers the night of the vow renewal, when she'd dragged him off to some back room; she'd told him then that she just wanted to know what it would be like. She has that seem feeling now, like she knows she'd regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't see this thing through. It's scary sure, but it's also incredibly exciting, the idea of going on another adventure with him. Even if it doesn't pan out the way they'd expected at least she'll know that they gave it their all.

"I know," Lorelai says. "Now can I please get some details? What did he say?"

It's a very good thing she has unlimited minutes on her phone plan because this conversation has no end in sight.

 


	5. five

Thursday and Friday at work at hectic; her editor wants her to change one article completely and she's got an interview with politician who ends up being a total misogynistic jackass, but she powers through it and manages to feel vaguely accomplished by the time she's powering down her computer on Friday. She has enough time to get back to her apartment to change and get ready before she needs to head out to meet Logan at a restaurant in Midtown.

She slips on a simple black dress and a pair of heels that she may or may not have appropriated from her mom's closet awhile back. Her hair is already loosely curled so she just pulls the top half back and leaves it at that. Grabbing her coat and purse she's back out the door in no time, excitement bubbling inside her. She's under no illusion that this relationship will be easy, but she has it a feeling it will be worth it.

When she gets there she isn't sure if Logan already arrived or not, but the hostess takes her coat and leads her to the table when she tells her that she has reservations under Logan's name. The restaurant is small enough that it feels intimate, but with the tall booths it still manages to make people feel secluded from other customers, all in all it seems like a pretty good place for a first date.

Turns out he is there already, today's suit a charcoal grey with a white shirt and a maroon tie. She still can't get over how much more grown up he looks and wonders if he feels the same way when he sees her. He stands when he sees her approaching and greets her with a kiss on the cheek.

"You look amazing," he tells her when he pulls back.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Huntzberger."

He grins and pulls back her chair for her to sit down. "Honor's been making me use her tailor," he says once he's seated as well.

"Smart girl, that Honor," Rory says with a nod.

 He laughs. "Yeah, she's something. So I already ordered a bottle of wine, I hope that's okay."

She nods. "That's fine, I still haven't managed to get the hang of the whole wine thing. I'm still judging them based on how pretty the label is," she admits.

Logan looks at her with something she can only describe as fondness, or maybe it's just this warm mood lighting playing tricks on her. She doesn't think it is though.

Their waiter comes and takes their orders soon, Rory going for her usual combination of foods that most people wouldn't dare to eat in the same sitting, Logan just looks amused.

"So tell me," she says once they've been left alone again. "I know you said business is going good, but what exactly is your business?" She's been wondering for awhile but it never seemed to come up in their conversations. She could have looked it up online, but the idea of researching Logan didn't sit right with her.

Logan gets a look on his face that on anybody else she would call embarrassment, but she's never seen him embarrassed the whole time they were together and she can't understand why his business would cause him to be.

"It's a long distance relationship friendly website and app," he says finally. "People can video chat, watch movies together, read, share music and pictures, send gifts to each other, play games. Sign up is free and so is chatting, but a lot of the movies and stuff you have to pay for. We're partnered with a bunch of other companies so people can shop on their sites and we'll send it to whoever you're talking to."

"Logan, that sounds amazing," she commends once she takes it all in.

He smiles. "Yeah, it's pretty cool," he says sounding proud and then seems to sober up a little. "I uh, I actually came up with it a few months after I moved to California when I was kicking myself for how things ended with you," he admits.

Ah, so that's why he was so hesitant to share earlier. Well at least their careers seemed to thrive in the face of their split.

She's kind of at a loss as to what to say. She knows that their breakup is bound to be brought up as they continue to further their relationship, as it should, ignoring that part of their past would only cause problems in the future, but right now she doesn't really want to think about it. She just wants to have a nice date with him where they can catch up after seven years apart and not lament over their mistakes.

"Well it's a great idea nonetheless," she finally settles on. "I'm proud of you." Because she is, she always was proud of him.

He grins at her and reaches across the table to gently squeeze her hand in response. "Thanks, Ace. But hey, I'm not the only one here with impressive accomplishments. Multiple bylines in the New York Times is nothing to scoff at."

"You know about that?" she asks and thinks she must look as surprised as she feels. The waiter stops to bring them their food and she hardly notices the interruption.

She's had a few articles that she's written for the online magazine reprinted in the Times, and while she was certainly proud of them she didn't think they were big enough to garter that much attention.

"Of course," Logan says easily. "I knew you were going to take the literary world by storm, had to make sure I was there to see it."

"You kept up with me," she says feeling a mix of astonished and flattered.

"Is that weird?" he asks with a little crooked grin.

"No," she decides, "I think it's sweet."

She's surprised he bothered to keep up with her career when she'd rejected him, but  she can't deny that's it's nice to know that he cared about her enough to want to know how she was doing regardless of their relationship status. Apparently though they had very different ways of dealing after the breakup. She'd considered searching his name multiple times during their years apart but she'd never been able to go through with it. It had probably been for the best, constantly thinking about Logan only would have hindered her work. She thinks that going directly to the campaign trail after their break up had been a blessing in disguise, it kept her too busy to really wallow in her grief. Logan obviously went a different route.

Conversation flows easily as they enjoy their meal. Logan tells her more about the website and she entertains him with stories from her travels over the past few years. it's strange how familiar and yet different at the same time it feels to be back with him. So much is the same, but they're obviously older now and it shows, but maybe the added maturity on both of their parts is a good thing.

"Right now the main thing we're working on is making it so that you can video chat while watching a movie with someone, at the moment you can only use the regular chat," Logan explains as they're finishing up their entrée.

"I still think it's such a cool idea," Rory praises. "And not just for romantic relationships, but for long distance friends too. Or people in situations like Luke and April; she ended up going to college in California and he doesn't get to see her much, this site would be great for them. You know, I bet parents of college students would love this, especially if they could easily send their kids care packages. I know my mom would have grossly abused it if she'd had that option when I was at Yale, actually she would probably do that now."

Logan's looking at her with a genuine smile on his face and with something that looks a lot like admiration.

"What?" she asks.

"That's a great idea. Care packages would be an instant hit, and it's not a bad marketing pitch either. I knew there was a reason I liked you, Ace."

She shakes her head but knows she's smiling despite herself. "Yeah, well don't get used to me doing your job for you, mister," she says.

He laughs. "But you look so good doing it."

"It's all in the eyes," she replies glibly.

Dessert comes out soon, a very decadent looking chocolate mousse along with coffee, and they move on to the topic of friends from Yale.

"Paris and Doyle are engaged to be engaged," she informs him before taking a bite of chocolate heaven.

Logan makes a face. "They're what?"

Rory nods. "Engaged to be engaged. They made an agreement a few years back that no proposal would happen until both of them were out of school and had stable jobs. Paris still has like two years of residency left though and I’m getting the feeling that Doyle won't be able to wait that long. The poor guy picked out the ring ages ago."

"It's practical I guess, not exactly romantic," Logan assesses.

Rory shrugs. "Yeah, but that's Paris for you."

"Fair enough," he agrees with a laugh.

"Speaking of engagements, I can't believe Colin is getting married," Rory says.

"I know. Shocked us all, I'm pretty sure he broke poor Finn's heart with the news."

"I always thought they would end up being pervy old men in the nursing home hitting on the caretakers."

Logan laughs and takes a sip of his drink. "I think we all did. Colin seems pretty serious about this though."

"So what's she like? I'm curious what kind of woman could make him want to give up the bachelor lifestyle."

Logan grimaces. "I've only met her once, so I don't know really know her that well."

"But you obviously have opinions," she deduces.

"Ah, yeah," he sighs. "I mean she seems like your typical ruthless upper east side socialite, just looking for a way to claw her way to the top. She's got him wrapped around her finger pretty good."

Rory frowns. "That sounds awful. Have you said anything to him?"

Logan shakes his head. "Other than reminding him to make sure he's got a prenup I haven't really talked to him about the whole thing. The thing is he seems really happy with her, maybe that's just the kind of girl he likes," he finishes with a shrug. "But there's still like six or so months until the wedding, who knows what will happen before then."

"That's true," she concedes, albeit a bit doubtfully. Colin and Finn may not have been her favorite people in the world, but she still wouldn't want to see either of them used like that.

There's a lull in conversation when the dessert is done and they both know their night together is quickly coming to an end, and she decides to ask about something that's been on her mind for weeks now.

"Logan, why did you come to the memorial?"

"What?" He looks a little startled and definitely a bit confused, which okay, that's understandable. It was a bit of an odd question to just blurt out of nowhere. But she's been thinking about it since that conversation with her mom. Did Logan really come just to pay his respects, or did he come for her?

"I mean, did you come just to pay your respects or did you come because you knew I would be there?"

He takes a moment before answering, she can practically see him putting his thoughts together. "Both," he says finally. "I didn't know about the wake until that morning. Honor had called me and told me what had happened and that our parents were going. I knew how much you loved him and how hard it would be on your family; I didn't even think about it, I just got in the car and drove." He pauses as the waiter drops by with the check and then picks up like they weren't interrupted. "Maybe part of it was based on my entirely selfish need to see you again, a large part of it probably," he says with a little smile. "But I did come to offer my regards to your family. I knew your grandfather for a long time, even before we got together, he was a great man and his passing was a terrible thing.

"I didn't have a plan for how to approach you. I didn't even know if I should honestly, I kept thinking that you probably wouldn't want to see me anyway. I mean the situation was already rough for you and I didn't want to make things worse. Then I saw you sitting there all alone and I just," he pauses and she waits impatiently  for him to finish his thought. He just what? "I knew I had to talk to you," he says finally. "Regardless of whether you hated me or not I couldn't stand seeing you like that and not at least trying to do something to help. So to sum up my answer, I came for both of you."

Rory ducks her head and smiles to herself as she takes in his words; underneath the table she hooks her ankle behind his, grade school flirting at its finest but it's good enough. She lifts her head and says, "I'm really glad you came."

Logan grins back at her, eyes warm in the soft lighting. "Best decision I've made in months."

Eventually the date has to come to a close. They stand outside on the sidewalk underneath the glow of the lamplight and neither of them seem to be in a rush to say goodbye.

"I had a really good time," she says.

"Me too," his voice is soft, like they're in their own private little bubble and she wants to kiss him so badly she aches with it. Is it too soon for that? They said they were going to take things slowly after all. But then, she decides, screw it, they've waited for seven years; it doesn't get any slower than that.

She steps closer until there's only mere inches between them and gently places one hand at the hinge of his jaw, the other resting on his shoulder. She leans in slowly, giving him ample time to back out if wants to; luckily for her he doesn't seem to want to. The first touch of lips feels like coming home. She loses herself in it, let's herself feel everything she's buried for so long. Her arms are wrapped around his neck and his hands are gripping her hips just right, it feels monumental, like this moment should be immortalized so the rest of the world can feel as good as she feels right now. She doesn't know if she's ever felt something so _right_ before in her life.

When they pull apart they don't go far, staying wrapped up in each other. He looks as overwhelmed as she's feeling, both of them breathing a little heavier than usual.

"I think you got better at that," she says with a grin once her breathing is back to normal.

Logan gapes at her in good humor. "What are you trying to say, Ace?"

She shrugs. "Not a thing," she says innocently.

He shakes his head and laughs a little before ducking back in to kiss her again. It doesn't last as long as the first but it's no less exciting. He kisses her lightly a few more times before pulling back completely.

"You're making it really hard to say goodbye," he groans.

She wants to tell him not to. To tell him to come home with her and spend the night wrapped up in each other under the sheets. She wants to stay like this for as long as the world will let them. Fortunately her brain is still rational and reminding her that inviting him to bed is most definitely not taking things slowly. She's dated her fair share of men over the past few years and none of them have ever made her want to let go of her inhibitions like Logan does.

She sighs and extracts herself from his hold. "You're not making it much easier."

His lips quirk in a small smile and he brushes a strand of her out of her eyes. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

She nods. "I'll see you later."

There's one last chaste kiss and then he's slipping into a car and she's headed towards the nearest subway station.

As she's boarding her train she realizes she feels _content_ , serene even, it's a weird feeling to be left with after a date, but it's good, so good she's practically dizzy with it.

 


	6. six

 

Lane is in town on Saturday. The band has a show in the city so she leaves the kids with her mom and comes up early so that she and Rory can spend the day together. The band isn't quite as active now, all of them growing up, working and taking care of their families. They'd had a good run though, for awhile it had seemed like they were always on the road and headed to new venues, now they play the occasional show when the opportunity arises and Rory still tries to make it to as many of them as she can. Even after all these years it's still cool to see her best friend rocking out on stage. Nowadays Lane spends some of her time giving music lessons at the shop in town, there's even been talk of Sophie handing the business over to Lane and Zach.

She meets Lane at a coffee shop, after exchanging hugs they order and grab their coffees so they can wander around the city. Lane fills her in on what she's missed with the band and the twins who have grown up to be a handful just like their dad.

"Steve got called into the principal's office again, second time this month."

Rory frowns. Steve had been diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and Stars Hollow teachers have been less than understanding. "What happened?"

"The usual. Talks too much, can't stay still, problems focusing," she explains. They cut through a park, there's three men playing music and Lane tosses a bill into an open guitar case when they stop to listen for a minute. "The doctor's got him on medication now, it's just finding the right dosage that's been the problem," she continues when they start walking again. "He recommended physical activity though, so Steve had his first karate class on Wednesday. Whether or not it will work he at least really seemed to like it."

"Well that's good. What about Kwan? Is he taking the class too?"

Lane shakes her head. "We asked him if he wanted to but he wasn't interested. He did however ask if I would teach him to play the drums," she says with a large grin. "I think Zach is a little jealous to be honest."

Rory laughs. "I'm sure he'll get over it. Who knows, maybe Steve will pick up an instrument and you guys can be the next Partridge Family."

Lane snorts. "That would be something. So what's new with you? I feel like we haven't talked in ages," Lane says as they enter a music store, the one they stop at every time she's in the city.

"Actually there is something I need to tell you. You might freak out a little."

That gets Lane's attention immediately and she releases the record she'd been looking at. "What is it?"

"It's about Logan," Rory admits. She can't believe she's gone this long without telling Lane any of this, but they're both always so busy now there just never seemed to be time.

Lane's eyes widen behind her glasses. "Logan? Yale Logan? _Your_ Logan?" she fires off, each question louder than the last.

"My Logan." Rory nods and ignores the little thrill she gets at saying that.

Lane studies her for a minute before suddenly shouting, "Oh my god! You and Logan? How did this happen? _When_ did this happen?"

)()(

"Oh my god," Lane murmurs once Rory's done filling her in. "This is amazing. I mean what are the odds that after seven years neither of you are with someone else, back in the same city, _and_ still totally in love with each other?"

"I never said we're in love," Rory argues as she adds another record to the stack they have going. "We just got back together, it's a little early to be tossing that word around."

Lane stares at her before shrugging and saying, "Fine. You're not in love. He just came running to you seven years after no communication, kept up with your life, and most likely still looks at you like you're the moon, and you still get that dreamy, dazed look in your eyes when you talk about him, but you're totally not in love." She looks amused and Rory glares at her. "I swear you two are like fated to be together," Lane mutters.

"You don't believe in fate," she says instead of trying to argue with Lane.

"I'll make an exception for you two. So what's it feel like? Being back with him again?"

She deliberates over her words for a moment, trying to find a way to describe it. "I feel like a teenage girl with her first boyfriend," she admits, a bit disgusted with herself. "How ridiculous is that? I'm about to be thirty and I feel like a giddy little girl when I'm with him. It's embarrassing. I shouldn't be daydreaming about boys at my age. I should be worrying about 401k's or social security or something to that effect. Instead I might as well be twirling my hair and writing Mrs. Rory Huntzberger on my notebooks. And we've only had one date, it's so stupid to be-"

"Rory! Calm down," Lane interrupts sternly.

Rory takes a deep breath and relaxes. "You just used your mom voice on me," she accuses.

"Well when the situation calls for it," Lane says with a shrug. "But you're freaking out over nothing," she says gently.

Rory stares at her. "Did you not hear anything I just said? That's not nothing."

Lane shakes her head. "No, it's not nothing, but it's also not a bad something like you think it is. Why shouldn't you be excited to be with him? What does age have to do with anything? This whole thing is amazing and great and you should be happy, you deserve to feel that way. Seeing him _should_ make you feel like a giddy girl in love. I still feel that way with Zach sometimes, and it's the best feeling in the world."

Rory coos at her. "That's so sweet, you guys are adorable."

Lane smacks her arm. "Obviously, but that's not the point here. What I'm saying is that, yes, you're an adult now but that doesn't mean you have to be so serious about everything. I mean think about your mom when she was dating Luke."

"She was embarrassing," Rory says lightly. "But she was really happy."

Lane nods. "Exactly." They go back to browsing the records for a few minutes before Lane says, "So, Rory Huntzberger, huh?"

Rory resolutely does not look at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

)()(

Sunday afternoon she finds herself in Hartford. With everything that's been going on lately they haven't been able to have their usual Friday night dinner and Rory's been feeling guilty that she hasn't seen her grandma since the funeral. So they compared schedules and settled on an early Sunday dinner. According to her mom, whenever Emily isn't dealing with wills or getting the house ready to put on the market she's attending social functions or joining new clubs. There's even been talk about her taking a Zumba class, but she's not entirely sure if Lorelai made that one up or not. Regardless, she's obviously been keeping herself plenty busy and Rory's worried that she's wearing herself thin and Lorelai's been expressing the same concerns.

A new maid opens the door and leads her into the living room where the other two generations of Gilmore women are waiting. Emily looks as put together as ever but the closer she gets the more tired she looks.

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible," she says by way of greeting.

"I heard that on the television," Emily says with a nod. "Would you like a drink?" she asks as she stands.

"Club soda's fine, thanks." She takes her seat next to Lorelai and the two of them exchange a series of glances directed towards Emily while she makes the drink.

"Here we are," Emily says as she hands her the glass. "So, Rory, how's work been?" she asks casually.

Rory swallows the sip she'd taken and nods. "Work's fine, grandma. Nothing too exciting to report."

Emily hums in acknowledgement. "Lorelai, how are things at the inn? And Luke?"

"Things at the inn are good, Luke's good," Lorelai responds. She shares a glance with her daughter, the two of them wondering if they should confront the elephant in the room. The conversation feels even more stilted than usual tonight with the three of them avoiding the topic of Richard's passing.

Eventually Rory decides that they're going to have to face it at some point and speaks. "How are you doing, grandma, with everything?" she asks gently.

Emily takes a sip of her martini. "I'm just fine, Rory, thank you," she says taciturnly. She puts her drink down on the coffee table and stands. "Before I forget, there's a box full of books and things your grandfather left for you in his will. I'll go have the maid move it to the foyer so you don't forget." Before either of them have a chance to say anything she's already bustling out of the room and calling out for the maid of the week.

Rory turns to her mom, her brows creased in concern. "What do we do? It's like she's still in denial. I'm worried about her."

Lorelai wraps an arm around her daughter's shoulders and rubs her arm comfortingly. "I know, I am too. I think the only we can do is let her work it out and be here to offer our support when she's ready."

Considering her mother's words she sighs. "I guess, I just feel so bad. I wish there was more I could do." She's had her ups and downs with Emily throughout the years; they've gone through plenty of rough patches, and despite her grandmother's occasionally harsh personality she loves the woman and it hurts her to know that her grandma's hurting.

Lorelai nods. "I know, hun, but for now this is what she needs us to do, no matter how much we may disagree with it. Everyone grieves in their own way."

Rory concedes to her point with a sigh, Lorelai gives her a small smile and shifts back to her original spot on the couch.

"You know what would probably cheer her up?" Lorelai asks with a glint her eye that makes Rory suspicious.

"What?" she asks slowly.

"If you told her that you're back with Logan. She adored him and you know she'd love to have him over for dinner."

Rory glares at her. "That's not even funny."

"Oh come on, you know how much joy she gets out of planning dinners. And she would be thrilled to know that you're finally dating again."

"I've dated regularly these past few years," Rory argues.

"Let me rephrase, she'd be thrilled to know you're finally dating someone she _approves_ of again."

Rory rolls eyes. "Approval or not, I'm not telling her about Logan. This whole thing is way too delicate to add grandma to the equation right now."

Lorelai grins. "I know, I would never ask you do that. It was just fun watching your eyes bug out when I suggested it."

Rory narrows her eyes at her. "You're not nearly as amusing as you think you are."

"The voices in my head politely disagree," Lorelai shoots back.

Rory ignores her and Emily walks back in a moment later.

Dinner passes by with stilted conversations and more avoidance. The empty chair at the end of the table is a stark reminder of what they're missing. Even when Richard and Emily were apart and they'd had dinner without him it had never felt this glaringly wrong. She feels bad about how relieved she feels when she's back in her car and headed home. The air in that house had been stifling and heavy with the weight of their loss, like she couldn't breathe.

On the ride home she starts to think about how her grandma is using other things in her life to avoid dealing with what's happened, and that maybe Rory's been using Logan's sudden reappearance in her life as a way to bury her grief over her grandfather's passing. Like if she focuses enough on Logan she won't have the time to let herself miss him, and maybe Emily isn't the only one who hasn't been coping. It's a thought that leads her to wondering if she would have gotten back together with him if she hadn't been feeling so low when they'd met again. She's not the same person she was in college and he's not the same person either. Is she just clinging to normalcy in the wake of her world being uprooted? Though she could also argue that being back with Logan is anything but normal after being apart for so long. Sitting in traffic she mulls over all the facts.

Truthfully, yes she has partly been using Logan as a way to avoid dealing with Richard's death, the whirlwind of their relationship has been a great distraction lately. However, she doesn't believe it's the sole reason she got back together with him. Maybe Lane is right, maybe there is such a thing as fate and the two of them are just bound to fall back into each other. It doesn't feel like such a bad thing, and having Logan around when she's just lost someone she loves can be a good thing, it keeps her from wallowing for too long. Babette had once said that her grandfather was a man full of life, and he was, she knows that; he'd want her to be happy and strong, he wouldn't want her wasting her days away being sad over him, and if Logan helps her with that then so be it.

She cruises through a yellow light only to sit at another red, she hardly notices the drive, her mind spinning and putting pieces together.

Despite deciding to give their relationship another try she realizes that she's been holding back and doubting her decision. The two of them had so many fights, knock down drag out fights, the kind that left gaping holes in their wake, and it's a big part of the reason why she's been feeling so hesitant and unsettled about this whole thing. When things with Logan were bad they were awful, she can still remember their fights in vivid detail, but when they were good it was like floating. She remembers the night she moved in with him, it wasn't the first time she'd spent the night but it had felt so different; she remembers hanging her clothes in the closet next to his, stashing her toothbrush in the bathroom drawer and how significant those little actions had felt. She remembers being nervous, wondering if moving in together would ruin everything, and how easily settled she was when Logan slipped in behind her in bed and hugged her to his chest and whispered goodnight in her ear.

People fight. It's just a basic fact of relationships. It's messy and hard and sometimes things get so complicated it would be easier to throw it all away, but giving up just means abandoning all the good stuff; those little things that make the whole thing worth it, the small gestures, those absentminded touches, sly glances exchanged in a crowded room, tender moments shared while a storm rages outside the window. She got three amazing years filled with those moments; yes they were interspersed with times of bitterness and hurt, there's no ignoring that, but they were moments that could have been avoided with honesty and communication. People always talk about how vital those two things are for a healthy relationship, but so many fail to utilize them. She doesn't want the terrible part of their past to repeat itself so she vows to be more open this time around and hopefully Logan will follow suit. She's not naïve enough to believe that they'll be able to go without fighting, it happens, sometimes it's even necessary, but she'd like to avoid it as much as possible, she wants this time around to be different.

She pulls into the parking garage and hops out, taking the box filled with her grandpa's stuff with her. It's fairly large and weighted down with plenty of books and mementos, she struggles with getting her key into the lock on her apartment door without dropping the box but she manages. Her apartment opens into her kitchen and a small dining area off to the side, she sets the box down on her table and heads through the living room and into her bedroom to change. It's not a huge apartment, it's nothing special really, but it's more than she'd be able to afford on her own in this city. Christopher had offered to pay for her apartment, and after viewing the places she'd be able to afford on her own she had agreed under the condition that she would put some money in and it couldn't be anything ridiculously extravagant. It isn't the Ritz but it does the job just fine.

She strips off her dress and changes into some comfortable clothes to spend the rest of the evening in. Grabbing a soda from the fridge she settles down at the kitchen table and starts to work through the box. There's plenty of books, ones that she openly admired in the past and some she's never seen before. Her phone rings while she making a home for them on her already packed bookshelf.

The screen announces that its Logan. "Hey," she answers and hits speaker so she continue organizing her books with both hands.

"Hey, Ace. How was dinner?"

Rory frowns as she tries to wedge one of the fatter volumes in between two others. "I don't know. It was fine, I guess. Grandma's mostly acting like nothing's happened."

"I can't imagine what it must be like for her," Logan says sincerely. She thinks about the Logan she first met, the one who talked down to Marty and stumbled around with girls hanging off his arms, that person doesn't even compute with the one she knows now, the man who asks after her family and plays board games with his nephew. Little things like this assure her that she's making the right choice allowing him back in her life.

"I know," she sighs. "She needs time and I get that, but I just feel so useless, like there's something I should be doing to help her."

"She'll be okay, that Emily Gilmore is one formidable woman. And I'm sure that just having you around helps her more than you realize." 

"Maybe," she acquiesces as she finally finagles the book into place, whether or not she'll be able to get it back out is another story. "What did you do today?" she asks in an attempt to change the topic.

"I had a bit of business to take care of this morning and then Honor invited me to dinner at her place so I spent most of the day there, I just got home a few minutes ago. But actually I was calling to ask you something."

"Oh really?"

"Your birthday is on Saturday," he states.

"That's not a question," she points out. She's very well aware that her thirtieth birthday is rapidly approaching, or rather looming it often feels like. Logically she knows that she's doing more than alright, but she's not where she had hoped to be at this point in her life, and sometimes she can't help but feel like she's wasted her time. She wants to be _more_ , she wants to do more than just write articles; she wants to see the world, report on what's really going on out there, it's kind of hard to do that from a cubicle.

He huffs. "I know it isn't. I was going to ask if you have anything planned before you interrupted me."

"Oh," she pauses and sits back on her heels as she thinks. "My mom was planning to come up on Saturday and we're going to spend the day together roaming the city and mocking tourists."

Logan laughs. "Sounds like a solid birthday. How's your Friday night looking?"

She hums noncommittally and rubs a finger over the leather cover of an old book.  Usually she'd be spending it at a Friday Night Dinner, but Emily has some function and Lorelai has a dinner to put on at the inn for a visiting club. "I don't really have anything planned. I figured I'd probably spend it with Netflix and Chinese food. Did you have something else in mind?"

"I was just thinking that we could get together. Have some dinner, celebrate another year of Rory Gilmore's existence. Maybe something low-key if that's what you want."

"Will there be cake?" she asks like she's not totally sold on the idea, which is ridiculous because a low-key birthday with Logan sounds perfect.

Logan scoffs. "What's a birthday without cake?"

"Not a birthday at all," she responds.

"So? Friday night, we on?"

"Yeah," she says after a beat. "We're on."

 


	7. seven

 

Since his move to New York Logan's morning routine has gone something like this: hit the snooze button twice, force self into the bathroom to take care of necessary business, change, grab a protein shake, hit the gym conveniently located in his apartment building (it had to be done in the morning or else he'd never go), shower, get ready for work, grab breakfast on the way into the office (or have his assistant bring it to him on days he runs late).This morning follows roughly the same outline, but it feels different, _he_ feels different.

He hits it a little harder than usual at the gym, but he's been skipping leg days lately so he probably needed it. After he cools down he heads back up to his apartment, showers, picks a suit for the day, gets ready, and is out the door in record time. He skips breakfast, he's got a call he has to make on the ride to work and the office will have coffee anyway. He's still on the phone with the head of the west coast office when he makes it up to his office. Andrea, his assistant, is at her desk when he passes by and she nods at him in greeting. He mouths 'coffee' at her and receives another nod before he disappears into his office. The call lasts for a few more minutes while he boots up his laptop and runs through his emails, Andrea is coming through the door just as he's saying goodbye.

Setting the mug on his desk she says, "You're here earlier than usual, especially for a Monday."

She's right of course, considering that's she's been working for him for almost six years it's not surprising that she's intimately familiar with his morning routine. He's infinitely grateful that when he made the move to New York she, along with a few others, came with him; training a new assistant would be miserable after getting used to her.

"Had too much on my mind to stay away," he says and then takes a sip of his coffee, perfect as always. "I need you to send Dani and Holly to the conference room at about," he pauses to check his schedule, "nine thirty," he finishes.

Andrea raises her eyebrows but taps a note into her iPad nonetheless. "Of course. Holly has a meeting downtown this morning, but she should be back by then," she informs. He's always amazed at how easily she seems to be able to keep up with everyone around the office. According to her job description, Logan is the only one she needs to worry about, and yet she could probably tell him exactly where the head of the tech department is right now if he asked. Although that might have more to do with the iPad she keeps glued to her hand at all times. He got a hold of it once; if anyone ever wanted to get the inside scoop on the company all they would have to do is get their hands on that, it's practically an all access pass for all the information it holds.

"Sounds good, thanks Andrea. So what's the damage from this weekend?''

She nods and taps at her tablet again. "Jay Flores called, he's ready to work out a contract, I've already contacted the legal team. There's more angry men writing complaints about sending girls gifts and not getting anything in return," she says this with a bite of sarcasm and rolls her eyes, Logan agrees with the sentiment. "Also a certain pop star may or may not be threatening to pull her music from the site," she smirks.

Logan laughs. "Can't say we didn't see that one coming. But it sounds like a pretty calm weekend overall."

Andrea hums in agreement. "Profits weren't too bad either."

He grins and pulls up the company's finances on his laptop. "Not too bad at all," he agrees.

"So what's the deal with this impromptu meeting anyway?" Andrea asks from her spot at the corner of his desk. He's got a comfortable chair she could sit in but she never does, says she prefers to stand when she can at work. He doesn't really get it but whatever keeps his employees happy is good enough for him.

"A new marketing idea," he tells her. "it'll appeal to a larger demographic. You'll hear it all at the meeting." He glances at the clock and the ever mounting number of emails on his computer screen, he needs to get through the important ones at least and he'd like to go over the notes he made over the weekend before the meeting. "Hold my calls this morning," he tells her, knowing that if it's something urgent she'll transfer it to him anyway.

She nods. "Anything else?"

He shakes his head, already starting on the first message. "That'll do it," he tells her and he hears the door close a moment later.

With the aid of caffeine he works steadily throughout the morning, dealing with emails from suppliers and inquiries from those lower down on the corporate ladder. At nine twenty he grabs his notes and heads to the conference room located down the hall. Andrea follows, iPad in hand of course, ready to take notes during the meeting. The room is empty when he gets there so he settles in a chair and pulls up information on his own tablet before the other two arrive. Andrea had ordered a small breakfast spread from a local café earlier, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, yogurt, and beverages are waiting on the table for them and Logan helps himself to a blueberry muffin while he waits.

"Impromptu Monday morning meetings? I hope this doesn't become a habit, Logan," Dani says as she walks through the door, voice lilting in jest.

Dani, the chief marketing officer, strides into the room and takes a seat across from him and follows suit as she sets out her things. Her assistant, a quiet man with a mop of curls, sits next to Andrea and murmurs a greeting.

"You never know, Dani," he says with a shrug. "This might be my new thing."

"If you do it every Monday morning it's not really impromptu anymore," Holly interjects as she enters the room.

Logan raises an eyebrow at her. "Were you skulking outside the room before entering again?"

Holly huffs and joins them at the table, tossing her bag onto to the glass carelessly. "You know I have excellent hearing. I have no reason to _skulk_." She pops a piece of honeydew in her mouth and leans back in her chair. Holly is the head of PR, and yet sometimes it feels like her own public relations skills could use a bit of tweaking.

Dani rolls her eyes. "No, you just prefer to make dramatic entrances whenever possible."

"I can't help it if people's eyes are just naturally drawn to me whenever I enter a room," Holly replies coolly.

Logan sighs to himself, he should have expected this. Both of the girls are loud and headstrong, just in different ways. Dani is tall, all tanned skin and dark hair. She's the kind of person that when talking to on the phone it's not necessary to hit speaker to hear her when the phone isn't against your ear. She's incredibly tenacious, a force to be reckoned with absolutely, and a good person to have at parties when there's a lull in conversation. Holly is shorter than average with dyed blonde hair, and when describing her the word spitfire comes to mind. Holly's the one who can be found in the break room gossiping during her downtime; she's talkative, flirtatious to the point that it occasionally borders on inappropriate, and  absolutely ruthless if need be. Having the two of them together in one room can become overwhelming in no time.

"Ladies, please," he interjects before Dani opens her mouth.

The two quiet; Holly crosses her arms and perfects her posture, eyes looking anywhere but at Dani and Logan. Dani just shakes her head at her before turning her attention back to him.

Sometimes he thinks about how if he was like his father he would never allow his employees to act the way they did at work. Mitchum wouldn't stand for a cat fight in a conference room, he wouldn't let people below him talk to him so casually, he'd have everybody too miserable and afraid to be anything but on their best behavior. Logan's known since he was a kid that the last person he wanted to grow up to be is his father. He's been trying his damnedest to avoid becoming him in all aspects of his life, and he feels like he's done a pretty good job of that, especially at work. Compared to most CEOs Logan is young, and a lot of people underestimate him because of this, despite the Huntzberger name, he proves them wrong on the daily. He runs a tight ship, but makes sure that his employees are comfortable; he refuses to have the people that work for him fear him like those who worked for his dad. Considering the nature of the work they do here, it's important to him that the company promotes a creative workspace, however, in moments like this he'll admit that he sometimes needs to tighten the reigns a bit.

"I called you in to discuss a new marketing idea," he starts, which gets their attention pretty quickly. "We need to expand to include a larger demographic."

He continues to explain Rory's idea of aiming their site towards friends and college kids and their parents, including the idea of care packages. He can hear the assistants' rapid tapping on their tablets behind him as he talks.

"Thoughts?" he asks once he finishes.

"It's not a bad idea," Dani says with a shrug. "The site interface is definitely simple enough that most parents should be able to use it without a problem. And being able to just tap and click to send a package to their kid would certainly be more convenient."

"Yeah, but what could we include in them?" Holly asks.

"Basic foods stuff, gift cards, cleaning supplies," Dani rattles off. Both Holly and Logan raise a brow at the last one. "Have you seen a college boy's apartment, their bathrooms are the stuff of nightmares."

"Been in a college guy's place recently?" Holly asks with a salacious grin.

"Probably not as recently as you have," Dani shoots back.

Holly just shrugs, Logan rubs at his temples where he can feel a headache coming on.

"It's a good start," Logan says to get them back on track. "Have your team start working on ideas, I want a presentation by next Tuesday," he tells Dani. He'd like to have it earlier than that, but his week is already packed.

Dani nods and taps a note into her phone. "No problem, boss."

"Holly, I want your team to work on rebranding. People already know about how the site benefits romantic relationships, we need to show them how it can work for others."

"Absolutely," Holly says easily.

"Great. It might benefit you to have your team work alongside Dani's," he adds, knowing that neither woman will be thrilled at the idea.

 He receives strained smiles and reluctant agreements in response but it's enough for him.

"Alright then. Well, that's all I need from you Dani. Holly, I do need to talk to you about something though."

Dani nods and gathers her things, assistant following suit, and they leave the room with polite goodbyes.

"So what's on your mind?" Holly asks. Her phone buzzes on the table but she silences it after glancing at the screen.

"We've got more complaints from guys."He doesn't even finish his sentence before she's already nodding.

 "Bunch of idiots," she mutters. "It's their own fault. We're not a porn site."

The gist of the issue is this: girls are using the site and saying they'll put on a show if they're sent gifts, the guys do it, and then once it's been received the girls block them. It results in a bunch of disgruntled men whining on their site and other social media platforms.

"I agree, but I'd also like to have this whole thing cleared up as soon as possible. I'm not interested in my company having this reputation."

Holly nods. "Of course. For the time being, I think the best route is to have the men issue an official complaint, we'll cancel the transaction or refund it if it's already gone through, and remove the girls running the scam. We get these crybabies out of the way and then we can post a statement on the website that we're not responsible for the actions of members and what not. If we really need to we'll issue a public statement that we don't agree or approve of members using the site for adult entertainment and we're in no way affiliated with it," she says, switching from casual to business in a matter of seconds.

Logan sighs. He'd rather not have to refund these men, but all that would do is bring more negative attention on them. "Alright, take care of it."

"On it." She pours herself a glass of water and swallows half of it in one go. "Listen, one of the guys on my team, Blaise, had an idea; it's actually pretty good, and I told him I'd pitch it to you if we had time."

Logan waves his arm at her in a gesture that says 'go on', and leans back in his chair.

"So he was thinking that it would be pretty cool if people could order food for the person they're talking to. Like say person A mentioned they're craving a pizza, person B could pull up a list of pizza places nearby them and have one sent to their place."

Logan thinks it over for a minute before saying, "It's not a bad idea. The issue is making sure that the sender isn't able to find out where the receiver lives, keeping our members safe is the main priority here."

Holly nods. "I agree."

"I'll talk to tech and see what they can work up. It'll be a great feature if they can do it."

She grins. "I'll let Blaise know." Her phone buzzes again. "Are we done here? I've got some business to attend to."

Logan nods and she's immediately on her phone and sauntering out of the room, leaving her assistant to get her things and tail behind her, rushing to keep up with Holly's fast pace. The poor thing is brand new and probably won't make it through the next week; Holly goes through assistants like Emily Gilmore goes through maids.

With just him and Andrea left in the room, he props his feet up on the table and folds his arms behind his head.

"All in all I think that went pretty well," he murmurs.

Andrea hums from her seat. "A productive Monday morning," she agrees.

"But next time I decide to have Holly and Dani in the same room without a buffer please remind me why that's a terrible idea."

Andrea laughs. "They weren't that bad today at all, quit being dramatic."

He snorts. "Fair enough, we've definitely seen worse," he says thinking about last year's Christmas party. He lets himself have another minute of solitude before pushing to his feet and grabbing his things. "Back to the office we go."

"How exciting," Andrea drawls.

)()(

Later in his office when he's gotten the most urgent business out of the way he reclines back in his chair and stares out at the Manhattan view and let's his thoughts wander. And it doesn't take long before they wander right to Rory. The whole situation, Rory being back in his life, still seems unbelievable, like he's been dreaming these past few weeks and has yet to return back to reality. He's been spending a lot of time thinking about it lately, probably too much to be healthy, and he's had seven years to examine his mistakes and realize what not to do this time around. He's been reflecting on past conversations and recent ones and constantly kicking himself for being such an ass back then.

The day in the bookstore when he met with Rory to sort things out has been haunting him lately, or rather one sentence in particular.

_You know when we were together I always thought we would get married, I wanted to marry you so much._

She had thought about marrying him. She'd wanted to be his wife, he could have had that; they could have been together these past seven years instead of being miserable if he had just slowed down and thought things through rationally. He doesn't resent her for choosing herself over him, he could never be mad at her for doing what's best for her. It's a bit soul crushing to dwell on the possibilities of what could have happened so he does his best to avoid it. After all, the universe has granted him a second chance to be with her again, he doesn't have time to wallow in shame over past mistakes. Rather he'd prefer to be spending it getting to know her again.

Seven years apart and at her core she's still the same girl he fell in love with, but she's different too. She carries herself differently now, like she's been through things, she's learned things, and she's stronger because of it. She's traveled the world for both work and pleasure, she's explored cultures, had adventures, she's grown and matured and he's so in awe of her. Rory was amazing back then and he knows that she's only become even more incredible since then.

He's dated briefly and had casual affairs over their years apart and none of them have ever come close to inspiring the feelings in him that Rory does. When Honor called him and told him about Richard he knew he had to go to her, and when he saw her sitting at the pool's edge it was like a punch to the gut. Even in her grief she was still one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen, and knowing how much she had to be hurting made him ache in need to console her.  They'd sat in Richard's study and smoked his cigars and when she laughed it was like nothing had changed between them.

Their date on Friday is still fresh on his mind. The weight of her body pressed up against his, the feeling of her lips brushing his, his hands on her hips; he felt like he was back in college with his girl at his side, ready to take on the world together. It's hard to believe how easy it is to be back with her after all the time they spent apart. He's sure that at some point they're going to run into some problems, and they still have things they need to talk about, they'd only scratched the surface of their past issues. Eventually they're going to have to sit down and really hash it all out, there's no way for this relationship to work if they ignore what happened back then. For the moment though he's more than happy to let things lie and spend some quality time getting reacquainted with her.

His cell phone starts ringing in his pocket and he fishes it out, he briefly considers letting the call go to voicemail when he sees that it's Honor calling. It's a little early to deal with whatever she wants to talk about, but he knows better than to try to ignore his sister.

"Honor," he greets.

"Logan," she parrots. Her tone alone already has him wanting to hang up. "I just heard a very interesting rumor about you," she tells him, voice goading.

"Really," he says in a tone that clearly implies that he's not interested in whatever it is she's about to tell him.

"Mhm," she hums. "A friend of mine said she saw you on a date the other night with a pretty brunette. A pretty brunette who happened to look a lot like Rory Gilmore."

For a moment he considers how hard he'd have to hit his head against his desk to knock himself out, it'd be infinitely more enjoyable than this conversation. He has no interest in his family knowing about his relationship at the moment. It's so new and fragile right now and Huntzberger's aren't known for being delicate. He remembers very clearly how they'd reacted the first time they met Rory, he can only imagine how well it would go over now.

"Honor," he groans. "Can we please not do this."

There's a loud shrieking sound in his ear and he quickly pulls his phone a safe distance away from his eardrum. He puts it back when the noise dies down and Honor starts speaking like a normal person again. "But it's true?" she asks excitedly, she continues before he even has time to answer. "Oh my god, Logan, this is amazing. I'm so happy for you!"

He scrubs a hand over his face and sighs. After their break up Honor had been equal parts mad at him for being a jerk and sympathetic to the hurt he was feeling. She'd always been an enthusiastic supporter of him and Rory being together and she'd been so upset when they'd fallen out. So he can't say he's surprised that she's so excited about their reunion. However Honor tends to have a problem with keeping secrets when she's like this.

"Yes, it's great and I'm very happy about it, but you can't tell anyone about this, Honor," he says sternly.

"Anyone being our parents," she adds.

"Anyone being _anyone_. But yes, keeping this from our parents is a very big priority of mine. You know as well as I do how they'd react to this."

"Oh, you mean something like: Logan, how dare you go crawling back to the girl who turned you down. Have you no shame, no _dignity_. You've embarrassed this family and soiled the Huntzberger name," she recites in a dramatic interpretation of their mother.

He can't help but laugh a little. "That was pretty spot on. So you can obviously understand why I want to keep this whole thing on the down low for the time being."

"Of course," she drawls. "My lips are completely sealed. But since I'm doing this favor for you, I'm going to have to demand that you have lunch with me tomorrow and tell me _everything_."

He shakes his head and resigns himself to his fate. "Pick the place and I'll be there," he tells her.

"Fantastic."

)()(

He leaves work about an hour later than usual; his final meeting of the day with the tech department had gone much longer than they'd anticipated, but on the bright side it seemed that the bug with their video chat feature had finally been rectified. After making a quick stop at small café to pick up his dinner that he'd ordered ahead of time, he heads home to his apartment, ready to unwind from a busy day. He sets up his soup and sandwich on the coffee table, turns on the TV, and makes himself comfortable on the couch after he'd changed into more comfortable clothes.

His phone rings as he's finishing the last bite of his sandwich and he grins when he sees who's calling. He pauses his show and picks up the phone.

"Well hey there, Ace."

"Do you know how much I hate Donald Trump?" she says in lieu of a greeting. "I swear to god if I have to write another article about him someone's going to get it. I mean, I get that I write politics, and for whatever reason he's regrettably involved in them, but there are other things to discuss, more important things even," she vents.

He can't help the smile that's building on his face as he listens to her get worked up. Her intensity and passion for her work has always been one of the things he admired most about her. He listens as she goes on about her dislike for Trump for awhile longer until she either runs out of things to say or decides that's enough, the latter is more likely, he has no doubt that she can go on about this topic for hours.

"I'm getting the sense here that you're not a fan of him," he says.

"Don't be cute," Rory admonishes jokingly.

"My apologies. But hey, you did finish your article right, you're not just using me as a distraction?"

She scoffs. "Of course I finished it. I'm using you as a reward for getting through the thing and not just writing 'Donald Trump is an ass' and being done with it."

"So I'm a reward, huh?" he asks with a grin.

"Don't go getting a big head on me," she says and he can practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"I'll try my best," he promises and rearranges himself on the couch so that his head is laying on the armrest. "So how was your day despite the article from hell?"

They talk for a long time, about their day, work, whatever comes up. They talk until Rory's yawning into the phone and they both need to go to sleep so they're not dead on their feet at their jobs tomorrow. Rory mumbles a sleepy goodbye and it's amazing to him how despite the fact that they're living in the same city she still feels too far away. He longs for the nights they spent in the same bed, her small body curved against his, and he can only hope that one day they'll be able to have that again.  


	8. eight

By the time Friday night rolls around she's tired from a busy work week and looking forward to a nice night in with Logan. They decided to spend the night in at Rory's apartment since Logan is having renovations done at his place, but he promised to do the cooking. She changed into jeans and a long sleeve soft shirt, comfortable but not sloppy, and makes herself at home on the couch, reruns of some cop show on the TV for background noise. She's more focused on the book in her lap, one of the ones she recently inherited and started reading the other night. Logan isn't supposed to arrive for at least another hour so she let's herself become absorbed in it.

She's pulled out of her written world when her phone starts buzzing on the coffee table. Seeing that it's Logan, she bookmarks her page and answers.

"Hey, you."

"Hey, Ace. Listen, I may have run into a little snag in tonight's plan."

Rory frowns. "What kind of snag?"

Logan sighs and in the background she can vaguely make out the voices of other people talking. "I was leaving my apartment when I ran into Colin and Finn in the lobby," he starts and she has a feeling where this might be headed. "They were coming to see me, and I made the mistake of telling them that I was headed out to celebrate your birthday. They're currently whining in my living room about not being invited. I think they may have a crush on you," he whispers the last bit theatrically.

"Poor babies," she interjects, amusement coloring her tone. Now that she knows who the voices belong to she can easily pick them out from the background noise.

Logan snorts. "Yeah, it's heartbreaking. So I was wondering if you'd be okay with a change of plans? We could go have dinner or something with them, probably hit a bar, but it's totally cool if you'd rather go ahead with our original plans. I have no problem kicking these two clowns to the curb," as he says this she can hear offended yells from the boys in question. "It's your birthday, it's your call."

She thinks it over for a minute. Yes, a night in with Logan sounds nice, and no doubt would be enjoyable. But so had hanging out with the guys at the club, and they'd certainly make the night memorable. She'd have the opportunity to spend a quiet night in with Logan again, but thirtieth birthdays with friends were a onetime thing.

"The more the merrier," she says after a beat.

"You sure?"

She nods even though no one can see her. "Absolutely."

"We're in, men!" he calls and the resounding cheers make her laugh. "And we'll see you soon," he tells her.

"Sounds great," she replies, she's already off the couch and digging through her closet for something to wear. Once they hang up she gets ready quickly, fixing her hair and makeup before slipping into a dress. There's a knock on her door when she's still trying to pick a pair of shoes.

She opens the door to find Logan standing in front of her, a boxed cake in hand and apologetic smile on his face with Colin and Finn standing on either side of him grinning madly.

"Happy birthday, love," Finn greets her and kisses her cheek before letting himself into her apartment.

Colin follows his lead, wishing her a happy birthday before following his friend. Rory turns her attention to Logan who still hasn't moved.

With his free hand he lightly grips Rory's arm and leans in for a quick kiss. "Happy almost birthday," he murmurs when he pulls back. She doesn't let him get too far.

"I think I deserve a proper birthday kiss," she says, coy smile dancing on her lips.

Colin and Finn cheer Logan on from the living room and she rolls her eyes and does her best to ignore them.

Logan grins and sets the cake on the counter before placing his hands on her hips and pulling her in closer. He doesn't kiss her immediately, teasing her instead as he dips in close and then moves at the last second, nose brushing against her cheek, his breath washing over her lips, so close and yet. She narrows her eyes at him and gets a grin in return. Huffing, she cups his jaw with her hand, the other finding its way the hair on the nape of his neck, she angles him how she wants him and presses her lips against his. She can still feel him smiling against her, until she tugs his hair and deepens the kiss. Logan's hands are roaming and she's totally forgotten about their company until Finn's voice calls out to her.

"Rory, darling, your liquor cabinet is looking a little sparse," Finn says.

The two of them break apart and it takes a moment for the words to register in her brain. She walks into the living room, Logan following behind her, and can't even find it in herself to be surprised.

"That's an entertainment center, Finn," she corrects him gently like a kindergarten teacher would a child.

"Well how entertaining could it be without booze?"

She looks at Logan and he just shakes his head in response. "It's Finn," he says, which pretty much sums the situation up. "You about ready to go?" he asks as his hand settles on the small of her back.

"Yeah, just give me a minute, and then we can go." she leaves the boys in the living room where Colin and Finn are inspecting everything, and quickly finishes getting ready.

When she rejoins them Finn is flipping through the book she was reading earlier and Colin is perusing her movie collection, Logan is on the couch just watching them. She leans against the door frame and crosses her arms over her chest. "Is everything up to your inspection, boys?" All three of them turn to her at once and Finn drops the book back onto the coffee table like he's been caught doing something naughty, as long as her bookmark is still in place there won't be a problem.

"I suppose," Finn says. "Though the lack of libations could definitely be improved upon."

"I'll get right on that," she responds sardonically.

Logan gets up and moves to stand next to her. "You ready?" he asks again.

She nods. "Take me away, boys," Rory orders with a grin. Logan huffs a laugh and wraps his arm around her shoulders, leading her towards the door.

"As you wish," Colin replies and swings the door open for them, Finn grabs the cake off the counter and then they're all piling into the back of a sleek black limo. Despite all the room she's practically been tugged onto Logan's lap but she's not complaining. Colin pulls a bottle of scotch out of the bar and pours them all a glass.

"To Rory," Colin says as he lifts his glass in the air.

"In omnia paratus," Finn adds.

In omnia paratus. Ready for anything. She thinks it's a pretty nice way toast her thirtieth birthday. She has no idea what this year will bring; with Logan, her job, and the loss of her grandpa things are bound to be tough at times, but she's feeling pretty confident that she's ready to handle whatever comes her way. After all, she's a Gilmore.

"In omnia paratus," she repeats. Logan and Colin echo the sentiment and then they're all clinking glasses and grinning in the back of a limo. She remembers the night of the male Yale meat market party, how Dean had just dumped her in front of these boys who were barely more than strangers at the time, and they'd taken her in as one of their own; they'd done their best to make her feel better, and at the end of the night she'd stumbled out of a limo just like this, laughing and smiling, and yes, a little drunk, but feeling happy and loved despite hardly knowing any of them. She'd been grateful then, but she feels blessed now. Sure in the past she hadn't been sad to see them go once they'd graduated, back then they'd down little more than hold Logan back, but with the way her life is now, all work and no play it often seems, it's nice to have them back, to have this carefree element that she's been missing for so long now.

She wriggles a little bit more into Logan and feels the warmth of his side bleed into her, Logan dips his head and kisses her lightly before pulling back to look at her. "So do you want your present now or later?" he asks her softly.

She narrows her eyes at him. "I specifically remember telling you the other day that you were not allowed to buy me anything." Logan had called her Tuesday after having lunch with Honor to fill her in on what all went down. Apparently it had went well. Honor had been thrilled and made Logan divulge all the details with only mild sisterly teasing involved. She did however make it perfectly clear that she's impatiently waiting to have Rory over for dinner one night soon. Personally Rory is just happy that she has at least one other member of the Huntzberger clan on her side because no doubt Shira will have something to say about their new relationship. But other than talking about his sister she'd also made it perfectly clear that she did not want any presents for her birthday.

He shrugs. "Technically you said you didn't want anything for your birthday and since tonight isn't actually your birthday I'm not breaking any rules. So now or later?"

She shakes her head at him. "I expected better from you Huntzberger." He just grins at her and she rolls her eyes. "Later, but it better not be anything big," she warns.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "It's nothing extravagant, I promise."

She studies him for a moment before nodding and settling back into his side. "Good."

Logan just looks amused and reaches for the bottle to refill their glasses. "You know it's a cruel thing to deny me the joy of showering you with gifts on your birthday."

Rory takes a sip and hums against the rim of her glass. "That's me, totally heartless. I just can't help myself sometimes," she says unconcernedly. She can feel Logan laughing against her in response.

"Finally a woman who's honest," Finn exclaims from his seat across from her. "It's just in their nature, mate," he says to Logan with an easy grin on his face.

"See, Finn gets it," Rory tells him and takes another sip.

"What about you, Colin, are you buying into this?" Logan questions, smile twitching on his lips, his arm still holding Rory close.

Colin pours himself another glass and pretends to ponder the question. "Based on personal experience all signs point to this being a true statement."

She thinks about making a comment about Colin's fiancé, but holds her tongue in favor of avoiding any potential awkwardness knowing Logan's distaste for her and the budding suspicion that Finn isn't too fond of her either. 

"Well that settles it then," Logan says.

"So it would seem," Rory agrees.

"What were we talking about again?" Finn asks, liquor bottle in hand.

Logan shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, bud." He leans down then, mouth close to Rory's ear and says, "You're a lot of things Rory Gilmore, but heartless has never been one of them," and kisses her cheek before pulling back.

She stares at him, eyes searching as she thinks over his words. She'd often wondered what Logan had thought about her after she'd turned him down, how he'd felt towards her. She knows now of course, he'd never resented her, and obviously he'd still felt something for her, and she for him, but it's still nice to hear all the same.

The limo slows to a stop not too long after and Rory realizes she never bothered to ask where they were going anyway. The guys climb out first and Logan offers her a hand as she stumbles out, alcohol seeming to hit her all at once as soon as she'd vertical but Logan's arm around her keeps her steady. Once it's settled back into a dull buzz she takes a look around and lands on what appears to be a bar across the street.

"It's open mic night at the pub," Colin informs her from where he's standing  next to her.

"Oh no," she groans and it gets a laugh out of the guys. "Just so you know, I will not wrangle you into the car this time," she tells them.

"If we do our job right you're the one that's going to need wrangling," Finn quips. 

"I don't know if you boys are prepared to handle that," she shoots back.

Colin scoffs. "We have a lifetime of training. There isn't anything you could throw at us that we haven't already done before."

"And done bigger," Finn adds.

Rory opens her mouth to speak but Logan cuts her off.

"As entertaining as it would surely be to watch the three of you challenge each other to see who the biggest lush is, how about we refrain from the friendly competition for tonight and go critique some poor unsuspecting karaoke goers."

"Do we also need to be home and in bed by nine, old man?" Rory teases with a grin. Colin and Finn lose it, the two of them laughing and jeering behind her.

Logan shakes his head at her, smile tugging at the corner's of his lips but he fights it back. "Hey, I'm just trying to save you from a mother of a hangover tomorrow morning."

She grins and pecks his cheek. "I know. Come on, let's go." She slips her hand into his and the four of them cross the street and head into the pub.

The place is pretty full, the bar especially. It's decorated in the typical pub décor, accompanied by dim lighting and an aroma so mouthwatering her stomach growls immediately. There's an indie singer with an overly breathy voice singing as they snag a booth with a good view of the stage.

"They make it so easy," she hears Colin say to Finn, and while she won't admit it she does kind of agree.

The menus are already on the table and she peruses it while Logan flags down a waitress to get the drinks going.

"The food here's pretty good, definitely one of the best pubs in the city," Logan tells her, practically speaking directly into her ear to be heard over the din of the crowd.

"I'll say, what kind of pub serves lamb?" she questions as she comes across the item listed.

Logan laughs. "A New York City one. But if it sounds good you should get it, get whatever you want, it's on me."

She knows that it would be useless to argue with that, their years together taught her that when Logan felt like treating her he would, regardless of any opposition. So instead she leans in until their lips are brushing against each other's, a silent thank you that she's sure he understands judging by the indulgent look he gives her when they pull apart.

A waitress stops by their table and Finn quickly announces its Rory's birthday before anyone else can speak. The woman, obviously tired and more than ready for her shift to be over, gives Rory a tight lipped smile and tells her happy birthday along with announcing she gets a free drink. She orders a whiskey sour and the boys quickly start racking up a tab. Once they've got drinks in hand the night begins.

Colin and Finn start tossing barbs as another singer takes her place on stage. She's wearing a suede jacket with fringe, the poor girl's already a goner. She starts with a country ballad and Finn visibly cringes in response.

They've listened to a few more songs when she hears someone calling her name. Swiveling around she sees Lucy, Olivia, and Olivia's husband Patrick weaving their way towards the table. She grins and waves at them before turning to look at Logan.

"Did you do this?" she asks him.

"Colin and Finn mentioned you hanging out with them a few weeks ago. I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of inviting them once you said you were open to going out." She doesn't know how he got their numbers, but then he's a Huntzberger so it's not all that surprising.

She shakes her head. "No, I don't mind at all. It's great." She kisses him again before sliding out of the booth to greet her friends with hugs. She's wished a happy birthday once more and when she steps back from them she notices a familiar face hanging back a bit from the group.

"Brad?" she asks, confusion coloring her tone.

Lucy looks between her and the man in question. "How do you always seem to know my boyfriends?"

Rory's eyebrows raise in response. "Boyfriend?" The last she'd heard Lucy wasn't seeing anyone, or at least there wasn't anything serious enough to mention, and she definitely hadn't mentioned anything about _Brad_.

"We went to Chilton together," Brad explains. "I didn't know you were the friend they kept mentioning," he says to Rory.

Rory nods. "They're pretty good at keeping things vague. But please, everyone join us," she says with a gesture towards their table.

They all cram together around the table, it's close quarters but no one's complaining. The waitress stops by again and they order more drinks and some appetizers for the table. They get the conversations going quickly, Rory learns that Lucy and Brad met an audition for a Broadway show a little over a week ago and just hit it off. She can't say she ever imagined Lucy with someone like Brad but they seem to work and Lucy looks pretty happy which is enough for Rory.

Olivia regales the group with a story of an overly arrogant customer at the art gallery she works at and Logan's talking sports with her husband. A guy steps onto the stage with a banjo in hand and they all know what's coming, the first opening cords of a Mumford and Sons song have Colin and Finn groaning.

"It's not even original!" Colin cries slamming down his empty glass in outrage.

"It's not even good," Finn counters. He takes a sip of his drink and adds, "You know that banjo's gotten more action than he ever has."

"Well obviously. Girls don't go for the banjo, he'd have more luck with the ukulele."

Rory tunes out of their conversation and focuses on whatever story Lucy is telling. Their meals come soon and everyone tucks into them, conversation dying down a bit. She'd ended up going with the lamb after all and is more than pleased with her choice.

"So Brad, you knew Rory back in high school, huh?" Colin says. When Brad nods he asks, "What was she like back then?"

The question seems to grab the attention of the whole table, Logan especially looks interested. He slides an arm around her shoulders and says, "Yeah Brad, what was our girl here like?"

Rory elbows him in the side. "Attempting to embarrass someone on their birthday is not appreciated."

"Do you have anything to be embarrassed about?" Logan asks.

Rory shrugs, Logan's arm moving with her. "Probably. It's high school."

"I don't remember anything embarrassing," Brad says from across the table, garnering their attention once more. "You were always nice to me, and you were the only one who ever stood up to Paris. Although there was that one time you lost it in English."

Logan raises an eyebrow and glances between her and Brad. "Now we're getting somewhere. Keep talking Brad."

"You weren't even in my English class," Rory interjects before he can start speaking.

"The whole school was talking about it, I mean there were a few different versions going around, but I think I got the gist of it. You were late for a test and Medina said you couldn't take it so you just lost it. Started yelling about how you studied all night, and you had to take the test, yelled at Paris and Tristan, and something about hitting a deer-"

"I did not hit a deer, a deer hit me!" Rory insists.

"How do you get hit by a deer?" Lucy asks.

Rory sighs, no matter how many times she's told this story no one ever believes it. "I was sitting at a stop sign and a deer ran into the side of the car."

Next to her Logan starts laughing. "Only you, Ace," he murmurs.

"Don't laugh at me, it was traumatic," she says and swats at his chest lightly.

Logan, still laughing slightly, kisses the top of her head in apology. "I'm sure it was," he soothes.

They talk a bit about high school experiences; Logan, Colin, and Finn listing off the trouble they got in at the multitude of schools they'd attended for various amounts of time. Rory's stories all seem tame in comparison, even Brad has his time on Broadway to talk about. That's not to say she didn't have experiences worth telling, it's just a lot of them involve ex-boyfriends and she bets Logan would like to hear about her exes as much as she'd like to hear about his past female companions.

Once they finish their meals Logan sets out the small but beautifully decorated chocolate cake and sticks a white 30 candle on top. With a lighter he borrows from Finn he lights the candle and the group sings an off-key rendition of happy birthday despite the annoyed glares from the patrons trying to listen to the current entertainer.

"Make a wish," Logan says.

She thinks about it for a minute before taking a breath and blowing it out. Her friends cheer and tell her happy birthday again; she grins, feeling happy and content surrounded by this eclectic group she calls her friends. She leans into Logan and he tilts his head down to kiss her, she lets herself melt into for a moment, chasing the taste of bourbon on his lips before pulling back.

"Happy birthday," he says, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Thank you," she answers just as softly. "For everything," she adds.

The look he gives her is soft, it practically borders on adoring and she can feel herself flush under his gaze. "Anytime," he tells her. "Now what do you say we cut this thing," he asks, glancing back at the cake.

"Yes please."

)()(

Eventually they all stumble their way out the door and into the cold Manhattan air. Lucy, Olivia, Brad, and Patrick head off towards their apartments after exchanging goodbyes, leaving Rory to pile back into the limo with the guys. She's well past tipsy, as are the other three, and she's not sure how but they all end up back at her apartment sprawled across her living room furniture watching late night television in the dark.

Rory and Logan are occupying one end of the couch, she's pressed against his side with her legs tucked up beside her and a blanket thrown over the two of them, Colin has the other end and Finn is awkwardly splayed over the arm chair.

"Hey, what's that?" she asks, blanket covered hand pointing to a small wrapped package on the coffee table. In her alcohol addled state she can't remember if it was there earlier or how it even got there.

Logan leans over to grab it, jostling Rory a bit in the process and shushing her when she makes little discontented noises.  "It's your present," he tells her.

She frowns. "You weren't supposed to get me anything," she slurs, her eyelids feel heavy and she's so warm and comfortable that sleep seems imminent.

She feels more than hears Logan laughing. "We've already been over this, Ace. Just open it."

He holds the gift out towards her and once she's managed to free her hands from the blanket she takes it and slits open the wrapping paper. In the dim blue glow from the TV she can make out the fine embroidered detailing on a leather journal and a set of pens that she knows for a fact do not come cheap but write beautifully.

"I know you said no gifts but I saw it the other day in a book store and I thought you would like it," he explains.

She rubs a thumb across the soft texture of the leather and nods. "I do, it's beautiful. Thank you." She stretches her neck and tries to kiss him but ends up getting mostly chin, Logan just laughs and leans down for her to reach better.

Noticing that the other side of the room has gone quiet she glance over and sees that Colin and Finn have finally passed out, Finn with his head tossed back and snoring quietly.

"I can't believe you tuckered them out," Logan says quietly.

Rory scoffs. "Well I can't take all the credit, the bar's worth of booze they have running through them might have something to do with it."

"That may have helped," he concedes. "So what's the final judgment? Was thirty a decent birthday?"

Rory sighs contentedly and snuggles closer into Logan's side. "The best birthday," she breathes as her eyelids finally win the battle. As she's drifting off she can feel the soft press of lips against her forehead and she tightens her arm around Logan's middle in response. No doubt she'll have a hangover in the morning, but right now as she's falling asleep in his arms for the first time in years, she can't find it in herself to care at all.

 

 

 


	9. nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys thank you so much for all the kind comments! I'm sorry this part took so long, I've hit a bit of a block lately :/

 

There's a faint murmuring coming from somewhere that seems to be underwater and Rory burrows further into her pillow in attempt to ignore it. It works well enough until the sounds becomes accompanied by the scent of coffee. Slowly she cracks an eye open, then the other, and then blinks until the scene in front of her starts to make sense.

"Aw, there's my little party girl. Happy birthday hun," Lorelai coos from where she's sitting on the coffee table. "Nice to see you're still alive," she glances down at the floor and Rory follows her line of sight. Finn seems to have fallen off the chair during some point in the night and is currently sprawled across the floor, head partially underneath the table; Colin has also vacated his spot on the couch, now lying parallel to it instead. "Those two I'm not so sure of," she finishes.

Rory squints at them before turning her attention back to her mom. "Did I smell coffee or was that just a dream?"

Lorelai smirks and pulls a steaming mug out from behind her back and passes it to Rory once she's managed to sit slightly more upright. Which is the same time she realizes that her pillow isn't actually a pillow, it's actually more of a chest, a very nicely toned chest. Glancing at Logan she sees he's still sleeping, head leaned back against the cushions in a way that makes her neck ache in sympathy.

"So did you finally decide that you wanted to live out all those experiences you missed as a teenager, because that's really the only explanation I'm coming up with here."

Rory swallows down some coffee and rolls her eyes. "We all went out to a bar last night and they crashed here. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"

Lorelai quirks a brow and stares at her until Rory's sleep muddled brain makes the connection.

"Oh! I totally forgot," she blurts, Logan stirs next to her and Finn smashes his head against the underside of the coffee table when he startles. Rory winces and watches him slide his way out from underneath the table, cradling the back of his head as he goes. "You okay there, buddy?"

Finn squints up at her, at her mother, and then at Logan who's eyes are finally open and says, "I've seen your future, mate, and it's glorious."

"Go back to sleep, Finn," Logan says, voice still raspy with sleep. He shifts around on the couch, moving Rory with him until he's comfortable and says, "Lorelai, nice to see you again."

Lorelai just looks amused. "Always a pleasure, Logan."

"Sorry I overslept," Rory says to her mom and starts to untangle herself from both Logan and the blanket. "I'll just go get ready really quick and then we can go." They had plans to grab breakfast, wander around the city for the day, and then have dinner later to celebrate and with all the excitement from last night she'd managed to forget about all of it.

Lorelai waves off her apology. "Hey, it's your birthday, if you want to spend it crashed on the couch that's your prerogative."

"It's also my prerogative to stick with our original plan, which is what I'm going to do," Rory replies once she's finally on her feet. She moves to go into her room but stops when she realizes she's about to leave her mom alone with Logan, and Colin and Finn but the two of them appear to be unconscious again anyway. "Mom," she starts, a little bit of a warning leaking into her voice.

Lorelai grins up at her sweetly. "I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

"It's alright, we should probably start clearing out anyway," Logan says. He has his phone in hand now, thumbs scrolling across the screen and Rory figures he probably has some work to deal with. He stands up and nudges Colin with his foot until he stirs. "Up and at 'em, boys," he orders, it earns him a few groans and a couple muffled expletives from Finn.

The boys get up and around with minimal prodding and after all of their goodbyes are said (Finn going so far as to kiss her mother's hand which earns him a hit to the back of his already sore head from Logan) she's left with just her mom. Rory fills up her coffee mug and goes into her bedroom to change and get ready, Lorelai follows her in and makes herself comfortable on her bed.

"So, good night?" she asks as Rory digs through her closet.

"Yeah. We went out, Lucy and Olivia met us there. Hey, do you remember Brad from Chilton?"

There's a bit of silence while Lorelai thinks and then she says, "Brad? Fear of life Brad?"

Rory nods as she exits the closet now dressed and leans against the doorframe. "Yeah, that one. He's dating Lucy."

"No way," Lorelai gasps.

"I know," Rory says, just as incredulous. "I couldn't believe it either, but he was there." She turns and walks into her bathroom to finish getting ready. She frowns at the mirror when she sees that she'd neglected to take off her makeup before passing out last night and grabs a makeup remover wipe from a drawer.

"Huh," Lorelai says succinctly.

They talk a bit as she redoes her makeup and manages to make her hair look decent enough. She mostly tells her the details of last night and Lorelai informs her of everyone from town who wished her a happy birthday.

"Before I forget, there's a stack of birthday cards for you from everyone on the kitchen table. The one from Kirk is a little disturbing, no surprise there."

Rory flips off the bathroom lights and walks back into her bedroom as she's putting in her earrings. "You read them?"

"Of course. There's some pretty sage spinster advice from Ms. Patty in there too."

"Oh good, that's just what I needed," she retorts and rolls her eyes.

Lorelai shrugs and hops off the bed, walking away and into the kitchen. "Don't knock it 'til you try it."

"I'm pretty sure that's not the kind of advice you're supposed to give your child."

Her mom pours the last of the coffee into her mug and leans against the counter. "Yeah well I haven't screwed you up yet so I must be doing something right."

Rory grins at her from across the kitchen. "Yeah, I guess you've done alright."

)()(

The October air is chilly and the sky is an overcast grey as they walk around the city. They'd stopped at a bakery first for a late breakfast and more coffee, they go in and out of shops, just browsing while Lorelai insists that she pick out something for her birthday.

"Come on, you have to want _something_ ," Lorelai groans as they exit another small boutique.

Rory shrugs. "There's really nothing I need."

Lorelai huffs. "I'm not talking about what you need. Birthdays were made for frivolous wishes, not necessities. So what do you want? A dress? Some new shoes maybe?"

Rory shakes her head.

"Okay, well how about a book? I'm sure you have your eyes on something."

Rory purses her lips as she thinks about it and Lorelai smirks. "Lead the way, kid."

They take a cab over to SoHo although with the midday traffic it seems like they would have gotten there sooner if they'd just walked. They enter the bookstore and the guy manning the counter greets them shortly while he finishes checking out another customer. Rory wanders through the stacks, Lorelai follows behind her and takes in the place seeing as Rory's never brought her here before.

"So was this the place?" Lorelai asks as Rory peruses the summary on the back of a book.

"What place?"

"The place you and Logan met up at to talk?"

"Oh." She slides the book back into its spot and nods at her. "Yeah, we met here."

Lorelai nods and looks around. "Cozy, nice atmosphere."

Rory squints at her. "Okay. I mean, I guess so?"

"So how's it going with you two anyway?"

Rory runs her fingers across the spines of the books, eyes skimming over the titles until she finds something interesting. "It's good," she answers. "We've only been back together for a couple weeks, you know, but it's really good so far." She knows she's smiling without meaning to but she's not embarrassed by it. Lane was right, she deserves to feel like this again.

Lorelai's face is soft as she smiles at her. "Good, you two looked good, you know."

"What?"

"You looked good together, like you're comfortable with each other. It's just nice to see you like that with someone."

Rory ducks her head and smiles. "Yeah. It's nice to be with someone like that."

)()(

She's not sure how much time she spends exploring the store, searching for books worth her time and then narrowing them down, but she knows that it's far longer than most would.

"How's the stack coming?" Lorelai asks. She spent most of her time hanging out in the chairs by the window as Rory did her thing but now she's standing above her where she's kneeling in the middle of an aisle with a pile of books surrounding her.

Rory grabs the pile of three and hands them to Lorelai. "I just need to reshelf these and we can go."

Lorelai glances at the titles of the books she choose and nods. "Okay, good. Luke just called, he's closing up early and then he'll be on his way and we can all grab dinner."

"Tell me you're not making him drive into this city," Rory exclaims. Everybody who's known Luke for five minutes knows how much he hates the city, and he especially hates driving in it.

"Well seeing as our private jet is down for maintenance, yes he's driving," Lorelai replies.

"He doesn't have to do that. I know he can't stand the city," she argues.

"True, but he loves you and wants to celebrate your birthday so he'll get over it, and you'll just have to deal with people wanting to do nice things for you," Lorelai says and walks away to go pay for the books.

Once the others are put back and purchases have been made they hit the streets again. They wander through China Town and Little Italy picking up ridiculous little trinkets but mostly people watching. In China Town they get propositioned by a woman trying to sell them back alley Gucci bags and Lorelai gets that excited little glint in her eye that has Rory pulling her away before she goes along with it. They make a stop for gelato and cannolis in Little Italy, they sit on a bench to eat their desserts and watch strangers go by.

"So I was thinking," Lorelai starts. "You should invite Logan to dinner tonight."

Rory's head whips up to stare at her. "I should _what_?"

Lorelai rolls her eyes. "Come on. It's not like we haven't met him before. You two may be new to dating at the moment, but he's not really a new boyfriend. Why not bring him?"

"Yeah, okay. But we haven't really talked about the whole 'telling family' thing. I mean obviously you already know but it just seems a little early for family dinners."

"I thought keeping this a secret from family was mostly for his side, which is totally understandable, but we're not about to burn him at the stake."

"What about Luke?"

Lorelai's brows furrow. "What about Luke?"

Rory gives her a flat look. "You know how he gets with my boyfriends. All standoffish, occasionally a little mean, and then there's always an interrogation, I'd really like to just skip that."

"He's just protective over you. He wants to make sure that they deserve you," Lorelai says and pops the last of her cannoli in her mouth. "Besides, he's met Logan, he liked him back then, I'm sure it will be fine."

"Well how does he feel about us being back together?"

Lorelai's pause is enough for Rory to work out the answer for herself. "He just wants what's best for you like we all do. He's a little unsure of it, but if we all sat down and talked he'll come around. Logan's a good guy and he cares about you, that's enough for Luke."

Rory lets out a loud and dramatic sigh. "Fine. I'll call Logan and see if he's free."

Lorelai grins widely at her. "Good girl."

Rory glares. "I can still change my mind you know."

She steps away from the bench so that she can have a bit of privacy and calls Logan.

"Hello?" he answers, he sounds distracted.

"Hey, I'm sorry, are you busy?"

"Nothing that can't be shelved for later. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to join me, my mom, and Luke for dinner tonight, but you totally don't have to if you don't want to," she says quickly.

"Of course I'll go," he says easily.

"You will?" she asks managing to only sound vaguely surprised.

"Yeah. Unless you don't want me to?" he asks slowly.

"No, if you want to come then I want you there. I just wasn't sure we were doing the whole meet the family thing yet."

"Technically we've already met each other's families," Logan says with amusement.

She rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I do," he says. "And I don't see any reason to postpone this, we're going to have to deal with our families at some point, and yours will be infinitely easier than mine so we might as well start there."

"Well I can't argue with that logic," she agrees. "So I guess I'll see you tonight."

"I'll see you tonight, Ace."

)()(

They don't go anywhere fancy, just an Italian restaurant with good pizza and all you can eat pasta, but that suits Rory just fine. Luke is standing outside the building when they get there and after greeting Lorelai with a quick kiss he pulls Rory into a hug.

"Happy birthday, Rory."

"Thanks, Luke," she says as she hugs him back.

"Should we head in?" he asks when they've pulled apart.

"Actually we're just waiting on Logan right now," Lorelai tells him and judging by the surprise that flashes across his face she hadn't bothered to fill him in on the updated guest list.

"He just texted me, he should be here in a minute," Rory adds.

"I didn't know he was coming," Luke says, affirming her suspicions. Rory shoots a look at her mother who just shrugs and gives her a little smile.

"It was kind of a last minute thing," Rory replies.

"It will be nice," Lorelai says, but it has the slightest edge of a warning to it, Luke nods stiffly like he understands what she's not saying.

Logan shows up shortly after, dressed casually in a sweater and jeans but he still looks so good. He greets Rory the same way Luke had Lorelai, and keeps one arm wrapped around her as he extends a hand to Luke.

"Luke, good to see you again," Logan says smoothly, grin in place.

Luke grips his hand and shakes, it looks like a rather firm handshake where Rory's standing. "Yeah, you too."

"Hey, Lorelai," Logan greets when he's got his hand back.

"Logan," she says with a nod and a smile.

"So we should probably get a table," Rory suggests once they've gotten all the greetings out of the way.

)()(

Once they've got drinks and appetizers in hand and the orders for their entrees have been placed it leaves more room for conversation and Rory isn't surprised when Luke starts asking Logan questions. She understands the reason why he does it, and she appreciates that he cares so much about her, but she's also thirty years old and having her boyfriend interrogated over breadsticks seems like something that should have stopped years ago.

"So Logan, what is it exactly that you do?" Luke asks.

Logan easily delves into the specifics of his job, this time he doesn't look at all uncomfortable like he did when he told Rory about the site. He's confident and proud without sounding cocky and Rory slips her hand into his under the table, he gently squeezes her hand in response and continues talking.

"We're actually working on some new features now for college kids and their parents to keep in touch more easily," he tells them.

"It would be really great for you and April," Rory adds.

"I don't know," Luke says. "I'm not really great with computers."

Logan shakes his head. "No, it's incredibly simple. If you're ever interested in trying it out I'd be happy to give you a demo," he offers.

"It does sound like a great idea," Lorelai coaxes.

Luke concedes easily then. "Alright, if it's no trouble, that'd be great."

Logan grins. "No trouble at all."

Lorelai and Rory share a private smile when things after that start to go much more smoothly.

"Lorelai, how's the inn going?" Logan asks after they've gotten their meals. He catches Rory eyeing one of the giant meatballs on his plate and gives her it without either of them exchanging words.

"It's been really great," she tells them. "Actually, we just recently decided to expand," she announces.

Rory's eyes widen at the news. "You didn't tell me that!"

"It's nothing too major," Lorelai soothes. "Just a few extra rooms, Sookie's been dying to remodel the kitchen and the dining area could stand to be a little larger too."

"That's great," Rory tells her earnestly.

"It is great," Logan says. "We should toast."

"No, it's Rory's day, if anyone deserves a toast it's her," Lorelai says.

Rory lifts up her wine glass and swishes the red liquid around. "My glass is full enough to handle more than one toast."

"Then you're toasting wrong," Lorelai says with a grin.

"So funny, now hush and raise your glass," Rory orders.

They toast to the Dragonfly and then again to Rory. The night goes on and conversation gets looser the more alcohol they get in them. Whatever hostility Luke held towards Logan is chipped away as they talk and by the time the check comes everyone seems to be getting along just fine. That being said, the check does start the argument over who's going to pick it up.

"Let me grab it," Logan says.

Luke shakes his head, they both have a hand on the little black book. "I've got it."

They continue this back and forth for a moment and the girls just roll their eyes.

"At least let me pick up the tip," Logan finally acquiesces.  

"Fine, you can get the tip," Luke agrees.

They step out onto the sidewalk and Rory hugs Luke and Lorelai goodbye; Lorelai had taken the train into the city since her Jeep is currently sitting at Gypsy's for repairs and Luke's car is parked just around the block. Once they've left it's just Logan and Rory standing in the cold night air, she pulls the collar of her coat tighter around her neck to fight off the wind.

"Thanks for coming tonight," Rory says.

"No need to thank me, Ace. It was nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean for a second there at the beginning I thought Luke was going to crush my hand, but it got better," he says with a grin.

Rory winces. "It did look like an extraordinarily firm handshake."

Logan shrugs. "I had a feeling it was coming. There was no way I was going to walk into that dinner as your boyfriend and not be vetted by him."

"I think you did pretty good," she tells him.

"Yeah? Do I pass inspection?"

Rory blatantly checks him out, letting her eyes slowly sweep over him and Logan laughs. "I'd say everything checks out."

He shakes his head, still grinning. "Come here," he says and pulls her close until his lips are slotting against hers. They kiss in the middle of the sidewalk as people squeeze by them and they don't care. She grips his shoulders and presses closer, as close as she can possibly get; he doesn't mind, hands slipping under her sweater and pressing against her bare skin, they're a little cool but on her heated skin it feels wonderful, sending little shivers through her. They make out like teenagers until the need to breathe becomes too much to ignore, pulling apart but not going too far.

"Come on, let me take you home," he says once their breathing has evened out.

They take a town car back to her place and like a gentleman he opens her door for her before she can. Standing outside her apartment building she looks up to where her unit is and imagines what it would be like to fall asleep next to him, this time properly in a bed and not on a couch in uncomfortable positions, and she wants it badly. Sex or no sex she just wants that feeling again.

"Do you want to come up?" she asks and she can see the fight on his face as he thinks it over.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he tells her.

"Oh," she says and tries not to look disappointed. "That's okay."

"Hey," he says softly and cups her cheek. "It's not that I don't want to, because believe me I do, but we agreed that we were going to take this thing slowly. If I go up there with you there's no guarantee we'll be able to stick to that, and this relationship means too much to me to screw it up like this."

She places her hand over his and notches her fingers in between his. "That's a pretty good reason." A really nice reason that makes her feel warm and all kinds of giddy inside.

Logan smiles and dips down to kiss the back of her hand. "I'll talk to you soon, Ace."

They kiss goodbye but it's kept brief in order to avoid any temptation to drag him up those stairs.

"Hey, Ace," he calls when she's walking away and he's got the car door open. She turns around and looks at him. "Happy birthday."

She smiles and shakes her head. "Goodnight Huntzberger."

He grins. "Goodnight Gilmore."

 


	10. ten

 

A week after her birthday Rory's sitting in her cubicle mainlining coffee and putting the finishing touches on an article before sending it off to editing. She's rereading the final paragraph when her cell phone starts buzzing on her desk. With a quick cast around the office to see if her boss is near she answers with a quiet, "Hey mom."

"I know you hate it when I call you at work but it finally happened," Lorelai blurts out, she sounds rattled and that immediately catches Rory's attention.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"It's grandma, hun." For one heart stopping moment Rory feels the world slip out from beneath her before Lorelai continues. "She finally broke. She called me at work, completely hysterical, just crying and yelling. I think it all finally sunk in and she's not handling it well. I'm in Hartford now trying to calm her down, but I think having you here would really help."

Rory's already sent her article in and is powering down her computer. It's Friday, no one will mind if she ducks out a half hour early. "Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Good, that's good. Just," she pauses for a second and lets out a weary sigh. "Drive safe, okay?"

Rory frowns, she hates hearing her mom sound so drained. "Always. I'll see you soon," she promises. "She'll be okay," she adds.

"I know," Lorelai says but that undercurrent of worry is still there.

After a quick conversation with her boss she flags down a cab to take her to her apartment so she can get her car. It takes awhile to get out of the city but once she hits the open road it's smooth sailing, she turns up the radio and does her best not to think about what's currently going down in Hartford. About halfway there her phone begins ringing again, seeing that it's Logan she realizes that she'd completely forgotten their plans for the night.

"I'm so sorry," she says in lieu of a greeting.

"Hey, where are you? I'm at your apartment but I'm guessing you're not," he replies.

"My mom called," she starts, "Grandma's kind of a wreck right now. Apparently it all just sunk in and my mom called and asked me come. I'm so sorry, I totally forgot about dinner." Dinner with Honor and her family, that is. She's been bugging Logan about all of them getting together since she found out and they'd finally managed to clear their schedules out for tonight.

Logan makes a noise of understanding. "Don't worry about it. Go be with your family, I'll explain everything to Honor, it's fine."

"Tell Honor I said I'm sorry."

"I will. But really, it's fine, she'll understand and we'll just pick another day. On the brightside this gives us more time to prepare for the constant questioning we're bound to face."

Rory rolls her eyes. "Come on, she's not that bad."

"We'll see if you're still saying that after she's grilled you for every single detail you can remember about the past few years," Logan says with a hint of a groan.

"You can't fool me what that tone. I know how much you love her." That's true, in fact Logan's love for his sister was always one of the things she admired the most about him. It had shocked her at first how much they cared about each other, she'd gotten used to the Chilton kids who despised their siblings and fought constantly, seeing Logan and Honor behave like average siblings was a nice surprise. Later she'd realized that they were all each other had when they were growing up; their parents were always working or planning, and they aren't exactly the warmest people ever, it would have made sense for the two of them to band together as kids. The fact that they've managed to retain that relationship all these years spoke pretty highly of the love they had for each other.

"I never said I didn't love her, I'm just saying she can be annoyingly persistent," he counters. "Are you staying there for the weekend?"

"I'm staying tonight for sure, I don't know about tomorrow. I guess it depends on how everything's going."

"Alright, I'm just a call away if you need anything," he reminds her. "How far are you from Emily's?"

She glances around at the scenery along the road for her usual markers. "I've got an hour or so," she tells him.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then. Text me when you get there so I know you're okay please."

She smiles to herself. It's a simple, common request, but it's nice knowing that he's looking out for her and wants to make sure she's okay, even if it's just in the form of a confirmation text. "I will," she promises.

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later," he says. "And tell your mom I said hi," he adds.

She notes that he doesn't say anything about telling Emily hello, but considering that she still doesn’t know about their relationship, or that they're even speaking to each other, that makes sense.

"Will do."

)()(

She pulls up to the house just as the last of the sun is disappearing into the night sky, she sends a quick text to Logan and then hops out of the car. At the door she's greeted by an unfamiliar maid who looks panicked and is silently led into the living room.

There are very few instances in her life where she can remember seeing her grandmother look anything other than perfectly poised, the picture of elegance and grace, but this is one of those moments and it easily knocks them all out of the water. Emily is strewn across the couch in a pale pink dressing gown, hair in a disarray, not a stitch of makeup on, and red puffy eyes from crying. Lorelai is perched on the end of the couch and murmuring in soothing tones to her, though Emily doesn't seem to be listening. In fact she looks completely checked out, eyes dazed and mouth slack.

"Mom?" Rory says quietly, still standing in the archway like she's unsure if she wants to go any closer.

Lorelai whips around in surprise and gently pushes herself off of the sofa and walks towards her.

"Hey hun," she says, hands shoved awkwardly in the pockets of her jeans. Rory's eyes stay on her grandmother.

"What happened?" her voice is barely above a whisper and it sounds incredulous to her own ears.

Lorelai shrugs. "I don't really know what set her off, she didn't tell me. She called me earlier, practically incomprehensible, just yelling and crying. I got here as fast as I could. She stopped yelling a little bit ago and she's been like this since," she says with a gesture to Emily's still form.

"What do we do?" Rory luckily hasn't had to deal with grief stricken friends  much in her life, at least not friends who had lost someone, and she certainly has never had to deal with Emily Gilmore in a state quite like this. She's seen her grandmother in plenty of emotional situations, she's seen her enraged, yelling and screaming; she's seen her scary quiet when she's angry but doesn't want to show her hand quite yet, though it's obvious she's planning something; she's seen her sad and panicked; she's seen her happy and proud; but she doesn't think she's ever seen her like this, like she's emotionless. It scares her more than she wants to admit, it feels a bit like she's on the verge of losing another grandparent and she wonders if her mom is feeling the same way.

Lorelai shakes her head helplessly and Rory notices that her mom's obviously been crying too. She pulls her into a tight hug and Lorelai latches on fiercely. "We'll figure it out," she tells her mom quietly. Lorelai pulls back and hastily wipes at her eyes, she gives Rory a smile, trying her best to put on a brave face and Rory figures that's the best they can do at the moment, so she follows suit and makes her way to the couch.

She squats down beside it and takes one of Emily's hands in hers, she doesn't even stir. "Grandma?" she says hesitantly. Emily blinks. She doesn't know what to say, the words are sticking in her throat, but she can feel her mother's anxiety radiating in the room, mingling in with the suffocating sadness of her grandmother and she knows she has to do something. So she forces herself to speak, she doesn't think about it, just let's herself ramble and stumble over the words and hopes that some of it makes it through to her. Lorelai speaks with her, interjecting from time to time with her own comments, the two of them just doing their best to get through to her in any way they can.

Eventually the words dry up and she finishes with, "I know this is hard, it sucks and it's unfair, I know," she pauses. "Actually I don't know and I can't pretend that I do. I don't know what it's like to lose a spouse, I can't imagine how awful this has to be for you. But I do know that you're one of the strongest, more tenacious people I've ever met, and I know that grandpa loved you and he wouldn't want this for you. He'd want you to be happy."

Emily, who seemed to have thawed a bit as she spoke, squeezes Rory's hand in response and aims a watery smile at her before glancing past her to Lorelai who's been standing behind her. "You did a good job with this one," Emily tells her.

There's a shocked laugh from Lorelai and a sniffling sound that tells Rory she's been crying again without having to turn around to confirm it. "She's pretty great," Lorelai agrees. "And she's right, mom."

Emily looks towards the ceiling again, tears flowing slowly out of the corners of her eyes and rolling onto the pillow. "I suppose you're right," she says, her words are raspy. "But it's not exactly an easy task to accomplish."

Rory contemplates an idea for a moment before she stands. "I'll be right back." She ignores her mom's questioning stare and ducks out of the room for a minute, returning a moment later with a bottle of scotch and a box of cigars in hand. It's enough of a surprise to get Emily to sit upright on the couch; Lorelai looks momentarily confused before she puts the pieces together and grabs three tumblers from the bar.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Emily asks, sounding a bit more like her usual self.

Pouring them all a drink Rory explains, "You remember the night of the memorial service when I disappeared for awhile?" At her grandmother's nod she continues, "I ran into Logan," she says, she figures that Emily was going to find out about them eventually anyway so it might as well be on her terms. "And we went into grandpa's study, we drank and smoked and we celebrated him, which is what we're going to do now," she says firmly and hands Emily a glass and a cigar.

Emily takes the drink but stares doubtfully at the cigar. "Smoking cigars isn't ladylike," Emily retorts, but it sounds hollow like a habitual repetition of something she's said a hundred times before.

"We won't tell anyone if you don't," Lorelai mumbles around her own cigar as she lights it. She inhales and puffs out a little cloud of smoke. "Come on, mom, give it a try."

She stares between Rory, Lorelai, and the offered cigar before sighing and taking it from Rory's outstretched hand. Lorelai gets them all lit up and once they've settled onto the couches the room falls into a brief silence. Her mom nudges her in the side and gives her a significant look.

So Rory starts talking again, her throat already starting to feel scratchy from use. She shares a story about Richard just to get the ball rolling, her mom picks it up for her, and eventually Emily joins in. She tells them about the first time she met him, it's a story they've heard before but it's nice all the same. She talks about their dates to art galleries, expensive restaurants and Yale football games. She talks about the proposal and their first wedding, she cries but it doesn't seem nearly as heartbroken as before. Lorelai reminisces about the day he bought her the dollhouse, about how despite their rough relationship he was a great man who did what was right for his family and how much she loved him.

They find out what had caused Emily's breakdown in the first place. She'd been looking for tax forms and some other paperwork needed to list the house on the market and wasn't able to find it. She couldn't figure out how to get what she needed on the computer and it had left her feeling useless and lost, like she couldn't take care of herself of her home by herself.

Lorelai's quick to assure her otherwise, "Mom, I can show you all of that. You can do this," she says firmly, leaving no room for argument. "You're an intelligent woman, you'll get the hang of it, and if you need help I'm just thirty minutes away. We'll get through this," she assures, her voice gentle but unwavering in her conviction.

Emily smiles at her, she looks proud and maybe a bit surprised, but pleased nonetheless. Rory feels inexplicably proud of both of them, it's nice to see them getting along, although the circumstances that caused the alliance are less than ideal and she's not entirely sure how long it will last, but she hopes that somehow they can manage to keep it up.

They're all emotional and quickly running out of scotch, but she thinks that this idea of hers might have done its job as well as she'd hoped. Emily laughs as Rory tells them about their trips to the country club, and she smiles wistfully when Rory gushes about how much she'd loved having him as her teacher. It feels like a weight has been lifted off of the room and they can all breathe a little easier now. It's obvious now how much Emily needed this kind of closure, she didn't have someone to rant to anymore like Lorelai and Rory did with Luke and Logan, and it had been a mistake for the two of them to go along with the idea that Emily was handling everything on her own. This wasn't the kind of situation a person should have to deal with alone, people need to be able to lean on someone during times like this and Rory's just glad that they were able to do that tonight.

At some point the maid had brought in plates of small hors d'oeuvres so they weren't drinking on an empty stomach but the platters are practically empty now, just like the bottle of scotch. She feels tired, completely and emotionally drained, but lighter too, a feeling she thinks is echoed throughout all of them. Next to her, Lorelai looks like she's ready to fall asleep where she sits, eyes blinking slowly in the dim lighting, Emily smiles indulgently at her.

"For heaven's sake, Lorelai, just go to bed."

Lorelai startles and blinks rapidly at her like she's trying to clear her vision. "No, I'm okay," she insists.

Emily rolls her eyes and places her empty glass on the side table. "You're exhausted, you need to go to sleep. We'll be fine down here, won't we, Rory?"

Rory nods. "Grandma's right, you've got work in the morning anyway."

Lorelai narrows her eyes at both of them but pushes herself to her feet anyway. "Fine, I can see when I'm not wanted."

"Don't be so dramatic," Emily drawls.

"Can't, it's in my DNA," Lorelai retorts and ducks out of the room before Emily can say anything in reply.

The room is left quiet in her wake, the night quickly coming to a close, but the silence isn't uncomfortable the way it tends to be when she's left alone with her grandmother. It feels more like a time for reflection, the two of them both taking some time to sort through all of the emotions from the night and get their bearings.

"Did you say you were with Logan Huntzberger?" Emily asks after a few moments like she just registered the words that had come out of Rory's mouth earlier in the evening.

Rory ducks her head and nods, grinning.

When she looks up Emily is staring at her with a familiar glint in her eyes and a knowing smile on her face. In a voice tinged with amusement she mutters, "Well what do you know."

)()(

Upstairs in the room that's become hers over the years she gets ready for bed and checks her phone as she's sliding under the soft sheets. There's a message from Logan sent earlier in the evening asking her how everything was going.

 _Are you still up?_ She texts him now. It's late and she doesn't want to disturb him if he's sleeping, his work has been hectic this week with board meetings and flights across the country, she knows he's been running on empty lately. Regardless of how tired he's been her phone starts ringing only moments later.

"Hey," she says as she settles against the propped up pillows.

"Hey, how's your grandma doing?"

"Better, I think." She tells him about their evening, how she'd introduced her grandmother to her own little coping mechanism and Logan listens attentively as she rambles on. "I mean, she's obviously not just magically fine now, but I think she'll get there."

"You're a really good person, you know that?" he murmurs.

"If people keep complimenting me like this I'm going to end up with a terrible ego," she tells him.

He laughs. "I doubt it."

"You never know. Hey, did you go to dinner at Honor's?" she asks when she suddenly remembers what their earlier call had been about.

"I did. And just like I said, she totally understood why you couldn't make it, but is eagerly looking forward to having you over another night," he replies like he's repeating something that was said to him before.

She nods to herself as she picks at a loose thread in the duvet. "That's good, but you sound really tired," she observes.

"I'm alright," he says and then proceeds to yawn into the phone.

Rory smirks. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep."

"Is that an order?" he asks teasingly.

"If it needs to be," she shoots back.

There's a little huff of breath from his side of the line like a short laugh. "No need. I'm crawling into bed as we speak."

"Good. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," he confirms.

Surprisingly, despite all the commotion from the day her mind is quiet when she lays down. It takes her hardly anytime at all to fall asleep.

 


	11. eleven

 

The night before Halloween Rory drives into Stars Hollow with a box of old leather bound books sitting in the passenger seat.

 It's been two weeks since the night of Emily's breakdown and she hasn't had the chance to see her mom since then. The morning after their night of remembrance Emily had seemed to be back to her usual self, though considering that she excels at putting up a façade it's hard to tell how well she's actually handling it. As for her grandma now knowing about her and Logan being back together, she surprisingly hasn't had much to say about it, at least not to her, although she did mention that she's more than ready to go back into the ring with Shira if need be. Rory appreciates the sentiment but mostly she's hoping it won't be necessary. As far as she knows his parents are still in the dark about their involvement, but she wouldn't be surprised to find out otherwise, news travels fast in their world.

As for Rory and Logan, they haven't been able to spend much time together these past two weeks. With Logan's company making all these changes and political scandals happening left and right the two of them have been tied to their work lately, only able to catch each other with short phone calls, or if they're lucky, a nice dinner in. Last Sunday night he'd treated her to the quiet night in that they'd originally planned for her birthday. She'd hung out at the bar in his kitchen while he'd cooked for her; he'd been a good cook the last time they'd dated but he was great now, apparently he'd taken to watching the food channel on nights when he couldn't sleep.  It had been nice to just hang out in private, it had felt just like old times. But with the exception of that dinner their face-to-face time has been practically nonexistent lately.

Thankfully they have plans to rectify that this weekend. Stars Hollow is putting on it's very first Halloween festival, something Rory is still having a hard time believing, and the two of them will both be attending. Which is why she's finally pulling up to Luke's. She gets out of the car and takes a minute to shake off the stiffness that settled during the drive and then makes her way to the diner.

She's intercepted by Ms. Patty and Babette before she can make it to the door.

"Rory!" Ms. Patty calls from down the sidewalk.

"Hey, doll," Babette adds once they've reached her.

"Hey Babette, Ms. Patty."

"How ya doing, sugar?" Babette asks.

"I'm good," Rory says with a nod.

"Are you home for the festival?" Ms. Patty asks as she fixes the scarf around her neck, the fall chill has begun to set in and Patty is swathed in layers of bright patterns.

"Of course."

Babette and Ms. Patty exchange a quick glance and Rory already knows she doesn't want to hear whatever they're about to tell her. Nothing good ever comes from those two teaming up.

"You know there are going to be some very nice young men there tomorrow," Ms. Patty hedges and Rory bites back a groan while Babette nods along. "We'd be happy to introduce you to them. There are a couple we think you'd really like," she adds in a suggestive tone.

"That's very nice of you," Rory starts in the most pleasant tone she can manage, "but it's really not necessary."

"Are you sure, hun? We've got some real hunks lined up," Babette tells her excitedly.

"And even a few intellectuals," Ms. Patty counters.

Rory looks towards the diner desperately hoping that  her mom will see her and come to her rescue, if anyone knows how to handle this situation it's Lorelai. Sadly her mom has her back to the windows and can't see Rory floundering on the sidewalk.

"Really, I'm sure they're all very nice, but I'm fine."

Another glance passes between the two of them, they stare at Rory again, and then Babette's eyes widen comically. She nudges Patty in the side until she's got her full attention.

"She's got that look, Patty." Her tone suggests that it's not a good look to have.

"What look?" Ms. Patty asks, looking between the two of them. Rory's just as confused as she is.

"That new love look, you can see it in her eyes," Babette tells them.

Ms. Patty focuses in on her and Rory fights the urge to squirm in front of them.

"You're right," she tells Babette lowly, her eyes never leaving Rory's face. "It's all over her face. We hadn't heard that you were seeing anyone new," she says to Rory.

"Well I-"

"It's not that Scott fella again, is it?" Babette questions before she can really say anything.

Ms. Patty makes a noise of disapproval. "I'd certainly hope not. He was a very bland man, you know  he reminded me a bit of my third husband." The way she says it makes it clear that that's not a compliment.

"Yeah, and he never called Paul Anka by his name. He was always calling him Paul, it just wasn't right! That's not his name," Babette adds, her raspy voice getting louder as she talks.

"It's not Scott. Listen, I have to go, but it was nice to see you two," she says quickly before they can get a word in otherwise.

She escapes as quickly as she can and ducks into the diner and to her mom's side at the counter.

"I've officially become you," Rory tells her.

Lorelai jumps a bit in surprise at the sudden appearance but she doesn't miss a beat. "You make it sound like such a bad thing."

"Ms. Patty and Babette just cornered me to try to set me up with eligible young men at tomorrow's festival. I wouldn't be surprised if they're carrying around little pictures of me in their purses."

"Aw honey, don't be ridiculous," Lorelai soothes. "They have pictures on their phones now," she adds with a grin.

Rory glares. "You're awful."

"So what did you tell them?"

"That I wasn't interested, they didn't seem to hear me."

Lorelai looks amused as she grabs Rory a mug and pours her some fresh coffee instead of waiting for Luke to do it for her. "You know telling them that you're otherwise engaged would have put an end to that conversation pretty quickly."

Rory scoffs. "Please. That just would have started a whole other round of questions that I don't feel like spending time answering. Besides, they can find out tomorrow along with everyone else."

Luke comes out from the kitchen then and quickly makes his way over to the girls when he notices Rory.

"Hey, Rory, I didn't know you were here," he says as he walks around the counter to get to them.

Rory hops off the stool and hugs him in greeting. "I just got in," she says once they've let go.

"She would have been her sooner, but Ms. Patty and Babette ambushed her about finding an eligible bachelor."

Luke shakes his head. "Those women are menaces and you don't need to listen to them," Luke tells her, ignoring his wife's obvious amusement at the situation.

Rory smiles at him. "I wasn't planning to."

"Good."

After getting her order Luke heads back into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone to talk.

"So did you bring the books?" Lorelai asks.

Rory nods. "You promise they won't get ruined or go missing?"

"I promise, no harm will come to your precious books," Lorelai says sagely. "We really need them for the shelves in the library, it's looking pretty good, we just need a some more fillers."

"I still can't believe that a bunch of teenagers overthrew Taylor's fall festival."

Lorelai nods. "It was quite the scene. They walked into the town meeting with a clipboard full of signatures in favor of a Halloween festival, Taylor tried to fight it of course. He went through all the rules and regulations he could think of, but these kids were meticulous. In the end he really had no choice," she says with a casual shrug. "The haunted house won. Although he is refusing to have anything to do with the preparation, mostly he's been pouting and grumbling around town while everyone sets up. It's going surprisingly smoothly."

With Taylor's strict religious beliefs, town Halloween festivities had always been vetoed, they were allowed to celebrate on their own and kids could trick-or-treat, but there's never been an actual festival for the holiday. But this year a couple of high school kids had went up against Taylor Doose himself and come out victorious, and Rory for one is pretty excited about the whole thing. The old Twickham house, which is currently empty, is being turned into a haunted house and each room was assigned to different groups of volunteers to be decorated. Lorelai and Sookie, along with their families and some other townies have been busy turning the library into an apothecary. From what she's heard it's all been going great, although Sookie's still pretty bummed about not getting the kitchen.

"So is Logan coming in tonight?" Lorelai asks once Luke has dropped Rory's burger off.

"No, he had some things to take care of at the office so he'll be here in the morning. But I was thinking we'd stay over tomorrow night if that's okay? I just thought this thing might get over pretty late and neither of us would feel like driving into the city at night."

"Of course it's okay. You two could even come have lunch at the Dragonfly on Sunday if you have time," Lorelai suggests.

"That sounds nice. We're having dinner with Honor and Josh Sunday night but we should have plenty of time for lunch." Rescheduling the dinner had taken awhile but they'd managed and hopefully this time everyone will be able to make it.

"That should be fun," Lorelai says in a voice that clearly says she thinks it will be anything but.

Rory gives her a flat look. "Honor's nice, she's nothing like her parent's. It will be fine."

"If you say so," Lorelai concedes and then steals a fry off Rory's plate.

)()(

The next morning is exceptionally chilly, even for late October, and it has Rory digging through her old clothes for something warm when there's a knock at the door. Stumbling out of her closet she peeks out the window and sees Logan's car sitting in the driveway. Still dressed in her pajamas she heads into the kitchen where she can hear Luke and Logan talking in the foyer.

"Hey, you're early!" she accuses when she joins them. She throws her arms around him in a tight embrace, it feels like ages since they've seen each other without a screen between them.

"That's not a problem, is it?" he asks with a grin as he hugs back. They pull apart but he keeps an arm around her shoulders.

"Of course not." Glancing up she realizes that Luke is still standing there now looking a little awkward. "Well, I should probably get ready," she says and slides out of Logan's hold. She steps away and looks at him, giving him the option to follow her or stay with Luke.

"I'll be out here when you're ready," he tells her.

Slightly surprised and a little curious she leaves them to it and decides to go raid her mom's closet instead. Upstairs Lorelai is fixing her hair in the bathroom when she walks in.

"Did I hear Logan?" Lorelai asks when Rory announces herself.

"Yeah, he just got here."

"He's early."

"I know. Hey, I need to borrow some clothes. I was not prepared for this weather."

"Shame on you," Lorelai teases. "Haven't you learned by now that you should be prepared for anything?"

Rory rolls her eyes and helps herself to her mom's closet. "Do you have to go into work today?" she asks while she's searching.

"Just for a bit, I'm on tour duty this morning so I've got to get the guests on the bus and then once we're in town I'm off the hook. I do have to meet up with Sookie later to put the finishing touches on the library before the haunted house opens."

"What time does it open?" she asks as she gauges the thickness of a blue sweater.

"As soon as it's dark," Lorelai replies as she walks out of the bathroom. She walks over to the closet and plucks a red sweater off the hanger. "This one will keep you plenty warm and you'll look totally cute in it," she tells her and extends the garment towards her.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Lorelai kisses her cheek and grabs her coat and purse before heading out the room. "I'll meet up with you later," she calls as she descends the stairs.

Rory finishes getting ready fairly quickly. Her mom is right of course, the red sweater is nice and warm and sufficiently flattering. When she makes it into the living room she finds Logan sitting on the couch and no one else in sight. She leans against the wall of the archway picks at stray pieces of fuzz clinging to her sweater.

"Where's Luke?"

"He just left for the diner a few minutes ago," he tells her.

Rory nods in acknowledgement, she'd expected as much. "What did you two talk about?"

"I offered to show him how to use the app to talk to April. Did you know he still has a flip phone?" Logan asks looking honestly surprised.

Rory laughs. "Honestly I'm just impressed that he even owns a cell phone." She walks over and plops down on the couch, leaning into Logan's side comfortably.

Logan wraps his arm around her again and just stares at her for a moment with that soft look on his face that makes her feel like squirming. "Hey," he murmurs.

"Hey," she says back just as softly.

He pulls her closer to him until his lips are on hers and they kiss lazily on the couch for as long as they please.

"I missed you this week," he tells her once they've separated.

"It was a mutual feeling," she replies. "But we have all weekend to make up for it."

Logan grins. "Looking forward to it."

)()(

Costumes are optional at the festival and they both chose to forego them, mostly because there hadn't been enough time for them to get one. However that doesn't seem to be the case for a lot of the Stars Hollow residents. As they walk hand in hand into the center of town kids dressed as all sorts of characters race around the streets, weaving in and out of booths screaming and laughing as they go. More than a few of the adults seem to be participating as well, and she wonders how Taylor feels about the guys in the reenactment group using their uniforms for a Halloween costume. The Twickham house is a hub of activity when they pass it, people pouring in and out with boxes of props and wardrobe, she can hear Ms. Patty barking instructions from somewhere inside and Babette calling for Morey.

There's a sudden scream followed by a mannequin falling out of a second story window and shattering on the front lawn. A couple teenagers poke their heads out the window before they all turn and stare at the one with a guilty look on her face. Rory can feel Logan laughing next to her and she shakes her head at him.

"I love this town," he says, obviously still amused.

She rolls her eyes and tugs on his hand, leading him away and kicking a piece of the mannequin back into the grass as she goes.

The center of town is decked out in decorations; spider webs covering the gazebo, ghosts hanging from trees, pumpkins everywhere, and one section has been turned into a little cemetery. It's all more cute than scary, this part of the festival being geared to the younger kids and the haunted house for the older ones. There are booths grouped around the square and the smells coming from them are enticing. A multicolored tent is off to one corner with a sign proclaiming it to be the location of a fortune teller, a small stage is set up as well, she knows Lane and the band are performing there later in the evening and there's been talk of some other entertainment from Ms. Patty's dance school.

"This is so much better than a New York party," Logan says as they wander through.

They'd both been invited to more than one party in the city, and while there really is no party quite like a New York City Halloween party, neither of them had really been in the mood for that kind of scene.

"It's pretty cool," Rory agrees, feeling a quiet sense of pride for her town. "Oh, hey, there's Lane and Zack." They weave their way through the crowd and to where the other two are standing near the gazebo.

"Rory!" Lane calls. "I didn't know you were coming."

"It was kind of a last minute thing," she explains. Turning to Logan she says, "You remember Lane and Zack, right?"

He nods and sticks out a hand to Zack. "Of course, how's it going, man?"

They talk to them for a little bit, their kids making a brief appearance before running off with friends. Weston's has a booth set up and they wait in line for the seasonal latte that's mostly artificial flavor and milk with only ten percent coffee but is still totally delicious and worth the Starbucks-esque price. With coffee in hand they find their way to Sookie and Jackson's booth that's practically overflowing with fresh produce and an assortment of baked goods. Sookie is nowhere to be seen, probably still at the inn for the morning, but Jackson greets them amicably and shows off their choices.

They get half a dozen of apple cider donut muffins and find a bench to have breakfast on while people watching. They're halfway through the box when she hears Ms. Patty's voice cut through the crowd.

"Rory!"

"Oh boy, here we go," Rory mutters when she spots her and Babette making their way over. Logan looks at her questioningly but she doesn't have enough time to explain. "I'm sorry in advance," she tells him just as they reach the bench.

"Hey, Babette, Ms. Patty," she says cordially.

"Hey, hun," Ms. Patty says distractedly, her eyes haven't left Logan. "And who might you be?" she asks in that overly flirtatious voice she always uses when introducing herself to a man. She and Babette stare expectantly at him, though Babette has a look on her face like she's trying to remember something.

"Logan Huntzberger," he says as he sets down his coffee cup so he can shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"That name sounds very familiar," Ms. Patty muses.

Babette snaps her fingers together suddenly. "I got it! You were the boy she dated at Yale."

"The one that-?" Ms. Patty trails off, looking at Babette beseechingly.

Rory tenses a bit at the question, it's obvious what she's alluding to, but Logan keeps the face of perfect calm.

Babette nods. "Yeah, that one." The two of them step aside for a moment and converse amongst themselves like Rory and Logan aren't sitting right there.

"So, I hope you're prepared for people looking and talking about us all day because within the next ten minutes the whole town is going to know a highly embellished story about us," Rory informs him.

Logan shakes his head with a little grin on his face. "Just like Manhattan."

The ladies rejoin them then, the two of them still looking a little unsure.

"Well it was nice to meet ya," Babette tells him.

Ms. Patty nods along. "And Rory, if you change your mind about what we were talking about last night you know where to find us," she says with a significant look.

Rory, a little taken aback at the comment, shakes her head. "I think I'm good, thanks."

The two ladies share a look and a few shakes of the head before wandering off.

"What did you talk about last night?" Logan asks once they're alone again.

Rory shakes off the surprise of the conversation and grabs another muffin. "Nothing that matters," she tells him.

Logan looks at her like he wants to press the issue further but he lets it slide. "I got the feeling that they're not too impressed with me," he says instead.

Rory sighs. "They're just overprotective. They're also probably a little bummed that you took the opportunity to play matchmaker away from them."

"Ahh," Logan breathes with a little nod. "Well I can't say I'm sorry about that."

Rory smiles and weaves her fingers through his. "Me neither."

)()(

After eating they end up at the pumpkin painting station. The man in charge is unfamiliar to her, but that's something she finds happening more often every time she comes back to visit.

"Hi, would you two like to participate in the contest?" he asks them. "It's five dollars to enter, pumpkins are sorted by age group," he explains.

"Just painting, no carving?" Rory asks as she eyes the mass of pumpkins laying off to the side.

"We figured it'd be best for everyone if we kept the knives away from the children."

"Smart," Logan comments. "So what do you say, Ace? Wanna paint some pumpkins?"

Rory grins. "My pumpkin is going to be so much better than your pumpkin."

He laughs. "Unless you took art lessons during the past few years I think I've got this handled."

"That's a lot of talk from the guy that consistently lost in Pictionary," she says teasingly, a challenging look on her face.

He grins back at her and turns to the man, handing him a ten dollar bill. "You're on, Gilmore."

Picking a pumpkin proves to be a very meticulous task and the two of them probably take more time than is strictly necessary. They sit on opposite sides of a newspaper covered picnic table that has plenty of paint and brushes and get to work on their masterpieces. The noise of the festivities hums around them but they stay fairly quiet other than the occasional jeering. At one point Rory glances up and catches Logan looking at his phone like he's studying something before going back to working on his pumpkin.

"Cheater!" she declares.

Logan shoves his phone back in his pocket and looks at her innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. You're totally using a reference and that, my friend, is cheating."

"It's just a little inspiration. I'm expressing my artistic license and making changes," he counters as he reaches for the black paint.

She scoffs. "Nice try. No more phones."

"Fine," he concedes. "I don't need it anyway," he says cockily, "I've got this in the bag."

"We'll just see about that."

)()(

The thing is, neither of them are really brimming with artistic talent, so when they turn their pumpkins around for the big reveal it's not exactly a surprise to find out that they both look pretty awful.

"What is that?" Rory asks as she stares at the black silhouette painted over a blue oval.

"What do mean 'what is that'? It's a haunted house sitting on a hill with a moon in the trees," he explains, pointing at it with a scraggly looking paint brush. "I mean, I kind of messed up the roof and it got a little smudgy around the moon, but it's still recognizable unlike that hot mess there," he says with a gesture at Rory's pumpkin.

Rory gasps in mock offense. "Excuse me. It's obviously a witch on a broom. How could you not see that?"

Logan squints and cocks his head, Rory shakes her head at him.

"Ah, I get it now. I see you went with more of an abstract style. Very daring."

Rory shoves at him. "Oh shut up."

He laughs and wraps his arms around her, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. "I think we might have to call this one a draw," he says.

She squints up at him. "Please don't tell me that was a pun."

"Oh come on, what do you have against pun humor?"

She shakes her head and gives him her best 'I'm disappointed in you' look. "You're better than this, Huntzberger."

"I'm sorry, I'll try better next time," he says, amusement clear in both her voice and his eyes.

They place their pumpkins on the display table and fill out the little information cards for them before leaving the station and finding something else to do. Logan gets introduced to more members of Stars Hollow, most of them going far more smoothly than earlier, though it's obvious that almost everyone seems to know about their past relationship. They watch a pie eating contest that Logan tries to talk her into, convinced that she could sweep them all under the table. They hit up the squash bowling section where the pins are actual squash and the ball is a pie pumpkin. Rory unexpectedly finds a knack for the game and is the victor by a long shot.

"I think I've found my calling," she says when they're walking away, her prize of a zombie plushie in hand.

Logan nods along. "Oh absolutely, you'd be a hall of famer in no time. They'd name a tournament after you."

"Do they name tournaments after people?"

He grins at her. "For you they would."

)()(

Taking a break from the activities they meet up for lunch with Lorelai at Luke's. They snag a table by the window so they can watch Taylor lurk around the booths and Rory ignores the people whispering around her. Small town gossip is something she definitely hasn't missed living in the city. Disregarding the gossip humming in the background lunch is nice. Luke takes a break for a bit to sit and chat with them. Rory and Logan tell them about their day so far and Lorelai promises to vote for Rory's pumpkin as a show of solidarity. The haunted house preparation is almost done according to her mom, there's still a few people perfecting the rooms, Sookie being one of them, apparently she keeps trying to sneak into the kitchen to make changes. Seeing as Babette, who probably loves Halloween more than anyone else in the town, is in charge of that room it's not exactly going well.

They finish lunch and find their way to the photo booth that's set up in the small cemetery area. She's not even a bit surprised to find out that Kirk has taken up the job of cameraman, apparently he took a photography class down at the rec center one time. It's an experience in itself just to get a picture taken by him, they're posed and directed for a solid five minutes before he even considers picking up the camera. Next to her Logan does his best to hold back his laughter and the look on his face makes her laugh in response; Kirk doesn't find their unprofessionalism amusing. Once they get a picture that's deemed acceptable they're ushered away with a reminder that they can pick the picture up in a few hours. Ms. Patty's class puts on a show of little dancing ghosts and ghouls, it's cute and only vaguely traumatic for the kids involved.

The sun goes down and the haunted house is officially open, the line forms quickly and they take their place in it. Logan stands behind her with his arms wrapped around her middle as she leans against him while they wait. It's cold out but she's perfectly warm and she has a feeling that it has very little to do with the hot apple cider she has in hand. The day has been great, she loves having Logan in the town where she grew up, she likes seeing how much he likes it there, he's not bored with the small town life and he makes an effort to get to know the locals even when they're obviously judging him. And it's so great to finally be able to spend more than just a few short hours with him, to be able to have actual conversations without feeling rushed. In the time that they've spent together they haven't had a day that was just them where they could let loose and just be themselves with each other, just goof around and have fun without worrying about serious talks or being called into work unexpectedly. It feels like a really great step forward in their relationship, it feels a lot like rebuilding what they used to have. Only this time it feels stronger, sturdier, like knocking down a wooden house and rebuilding it with brick and mortar, it's something that's meant to last throughout bad weather. It's a good thought, and that warmth spreads further throughout her body.

Tilting her head back she kisses whatever part of him she can reach easily, in this case it's his jaw. He grins down at her and angles them until her lips are on his and she finds herself grinning into the kiss without meaning to. They kiss until someone behind them clears their throat, breaking apart she sees whoever was behind them cut ahead into the open space that had cleared in front of them. She shrugs, not bothered by being cut in line and goes back to kissing him, this time Logan is the one grinning.

)()(

The haunted house is surprisingly pretty good. It's not the scariest thing she's ever seen, but this is Stars Hollow and she figures there's only so much the townies could get away with before Taylor had an aneurism. Each room has a different theme but they all flow in to each other fairly cohesively. There's actors, or rather townspeople in costume, hiding out in each room to jump out and scare passersby, most of the time falling flat and she almost feels the need to pretend to be scared just to make them feel like they're doing a good job. The library has been turned into an apothecary just like her mom had been saying. There's a bunch of jars with unidentified objects floating around in colored water sitting on shelves, she figures that must have been Sookie's part of the decorating, no one else knows as many weird and creepy looking foods as their resident chef.  In the fireplace there's a large cauldron with smoke billowing out of it, and spell books littering the table and the shelves- she spots some of the books she leant filling the space amongst them. It's all very impressive and she thinks her mom should be very proud of herself considering how underwhelming her past Halloween experiences have been in comparison to their neighbors.

Logan keeps his hand intertwined with hers throughout the house and chuckles whenever someone manages to make her jump and on the rare occurrence that she lets out a scream he practically cackles. She might be more offended if he didn't end up being the one who was thoroughly freaked out when they make it to a circus themed room, apparently he's not a big fan of clowns. She's not very fond of them either but she's feeling pretty good about herself by the time they make it into the hallway.  She smirks at him in the dim green lights and he just shakes her head before tugging her along. In one of the bedrooms they find the mannequin that had taken a dive out the window earlier, it's obviously been hastily pieced back together with glue, giving it that broken porcelain doll look, which is a type of creepy she doesn't think they meant to happen, but it's a nice touch nonetheless. Most of their walk is spent by the two of them just pointing out little details to the other and enjoying a true Stars Hollow experience.

They make it out of the house without any other real scares and she spots her mom and Luke standing in line.

"I see she wore you down," she says to Luke. He'd been adamant earlier that he wasn't going through the house. They both knew that he was lying of course, whatever Lorelai wants he's more than willing to give it to her if it means making her happy.

Luke sighs at her. "She's relentless."

"I've noticed that about her," Rory agrees with a nod.

"So how was it?" Lorelai asks, blue eyes wide in obvious anticipation, always ready for craziness that town festivities inevitably bring.

"It's pretty cool. Nice job on the library," Logan compliments.

"Yeah, it looks great, mom," Rory agrees.

Lorelai smiles at the two of them. "Thanks guys. But how's the rest of the thing? If I'm paying an admittance fee I better be scared."

Rory shrugs. "About what you'd expect from a Stars Hollow production. Although one of us got a little freaked out in the clown room and it wasn't me," she tells them, shooting Logan a teasing grin.

He narrows his eyes at her and shakes his head. "I have no idea what she's talking about. I'm not the one who was screaming."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Lorelai says with a wide grin.

"What was that about clowns?" Luke asks, obviously trying to look unaffected but Rory sees the unease under the surface of forced calm.

Lorelai grins at him and weaves her arm through his. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from Bozo."

The line moves forward, allowing the two of them entry and she can hear Luke arguing that he's not afraid as they enter the foyer.

Logan throws his arm around Rory's shoulders and pulls her into his side as they walk back to the center. "So what now?"

"I think the band is going on soon. We should probably head to the stage."

He nods and effortlessly steers them through the crowd, it's thinned out considerably since the sun went down, most parents and the small kids heading out after spending the day here. They stop for some more cider, this batch spiked with a little something extra, before finding a spot to stand by the stage. Hep Alien takes the stage not too long after they're settled and she gets to watch her best friend do what she loves while she's standing there with Logan's arms around her feeling better than she has in years. It's amazing to her how he was able to walk back into her life and turn everything upside down, that after everything they'd been through in the past he still feels so right. Ms. Patty and Babette had talked about Scott and how wrong he'd been and he'd just been the last one in a string of progressively worse choices in men.

She's dated a wide range of men in these past seven years; serious businessmen, relaxed artists, guys who seemed like they never grew out of the frat boy stage, even guys that had reminded her of Logan. And none of them had ever come close to giving her the same sense of comfort and belonging that she gets with him. Being with him is right, she knows this in her soul, it may have taken a long time to get here but she's just happy that it's happening at all. The people in this town may have their own opinions on their relationship, and that's fine, it's their right, but nothing they can say is going to make her give this feeling up. She's in this, she's in it for as long as he'll have her. And maybe that seems rash seeing as they've only been back together for a month, but she _knows_ him, she trusts him, and that's enough for her.

"Thanks for coming," she says during a break between songs.

"Of course, no place I'd rather be."

And isn't it a nice thing to know that the person who makes her feel like this seems to feel the same about her.

)()(

It's late when Lorelai half stumbles her way down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a drink, and apparently she's not the only one who was brought out by thirst. Logan is already there filling up his own glass.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," she says as she grabs a glass from the cupboard. In the dim lighting she can see him grin in response. "She still up?" she asks with a nod towards Rory's room.

"No, she passed out pretty quickly after we got back."

Lorelai nods, after all the excitement of the day it's understandable that Rory would be out like a light, and after she gets a drink she intends to do the same.

"Hey, Lorelai, can I ask you something?" Logan asks hesitantly.

She takes a seat at the small kitchen table and gestures at him to do the same. "Shoot," she says once he's sitting. The last time Logan had asked her something it'd been for her blessing to marry her daughter and she's curious now to see what he's thinking.

"Just, I know you played a part in getting Rory to give me another chance, and I also know that you were never a big fan of me in the past, and I can't help but wonder why you would do that."

Lorelai gives him a small smile. "Rory makes her own decisions," she says.

"True, but she also values your opinion more than anything. If you wanted to you could have steered her away from this."

"Maybe I could have," she says with a shrug. Rory is her own person but it's true enough that she has enough sway to influence her decision if she really wanted to be that kind of mother. "But she means more to me than anything else in this world and the most important thing to me is knowing that she's happy. And despite all of the things you two have been through in the past, she's happiest when she's with you, I'm not interested in getting between that." She'd gotten the opportunity today to watch the two of them interact by themselves, she'd gotten to see what they're really like together without the pressure of entertaining others, and it had been a nice confirmation to what she already knew. Rory's happier with Logan than she ever was with any of the other guys she'd brought around; she seems lighter, effervescent even, and if he's the one that makes her like this then so be it.

"It's a fair assessment that you weren't my favorite person back then," she says bluntly and Logan chuckles a bit at this. "But people can change, they can grow. Rory has, she's not the same person she was seven years ago. From what I've seen and heard you're not the same person either, and it wouldn't be fair of me to judge you by your past mistakes."

It's quiet in the kitchen for a moment while he takes in her words before he says, "Thank you, Lorelai, I really appreciate that. I know I messed up a lot back then but I promise you I'm going to do everything I can to make up for that, I just want her to be happy," he says earnestly.

"I know," she says confidently. Logan's brows raise in surprise like he'd been expecting her to argue with him on this a little more. "Because if you break her heart nothing on this earth will be able to protect you," she continues with a saccharine grin.

Logan nods seriously. "Duly noted."

"And you won't just have to worry about me," she adds. "I'm sure you noticed that Rory is very loved by the people in this town and they're incredibly protective of their own."

"I was definitely picking up those vibes earlier," he agrees, this time sounding a little uneasy.

The smiles she aims at him now is genuine. "Hey, keep looking at her like she hung the moon and the others will come around in time." She stands up from the table and pats him on the shoulder as she passes by him to head back up the stairs. "You should get some sleep," she says.

He nods and moves to set his glass in the sink. "Goodnight, Lorelai."

"Goodnight, Logan."

 

 

 

 

 

 


	12. Twelve

 

They make it to Honor's house a little after five. Honor, Josh, and their son only live about an hour north of Hartford, which gave them plenty of time to hang out in Stars Hollow that morning. They had brunch at the inn (Sookie going above and beyond as usual), and Lorelai had given Logan the official tour around the place, complete with giving them the details on the expansion plans. It had been a lovely afternoon, they'd walked hand in hand around the grounds, Rory telling him all kinds of stories and Logan listening avidly, they'd spent plenty of time just talking in the library, and of course gorged themselves on Sookie's creations. It had all been very cozy, a nice slow paced way to start their day, and probably a pretty big contrast to what their evening will be like. By the time they get to Honor's after stopping to grab a bottle of wine, the sun is starting to fade and a chill is settling in for the night, and most likely the rest of the season.

Logan has the wine in one hand and Rory's hand in the other as they walk to the impressive front door. "You ready for this?" he asks her.

Rory rolls her eyes. "Quit being a drama queen. She's your sister, I can handle this. I think the question is, can you?"

"She's gonna ask questions," Logan whines petulantly.

Rory fights back a grin and tugs him forward. "My entire town thoroughly grilled you yesterday, she's just one person, and she loves you, nothing she does will be nearly as bad as having everyone I grew up with whispering behind our backs."

"Fine," Logan sighs.

She just shakes her head at him in amusement. Being an only child she supposes she can't really understand what it's like to have to deal with a sibling inquisition, but her mother is Lorelai Gilmore, so she's pretty sure she at least has something to compare it to. She also knows that Logan is glad to see his sister, no matter how much he likes to act like she drives him insane, although to be fair sometimes it's not totally an act.

Logan knocks once on the door to announce their presence before letting them in. Honor's home is large and opulent, pretty much exactly what Rory's come to expect from people in this life. It's all dark woods and pricey décor that's meant to be admired but not touched. But as Logan tugs her deeper into the house she can see a bit of life start to peek through, the candid family photos on the walls, a couple kid's toys lying about, magazines strewn across tables, it makes it feel more like a home and less like a museum.

"Hey Honor!" Logan calls as they make it into the living room, he places the wine on the coffee table and wraps his now free hand around Rory's shoulder.

"Logan! You're early!" she hears Honor admonish from somewhere upstairs, and then a moment later Honor is making her way into the room. Logan let's go of Rory so Honor can hug him tightly for a moment before she sets her sights on Rory.

"Rory! It's so good to see you again," she says warmly before hugging her too. Honor's barely changed at all since the last time Rory saw her years ago, she's still as blonde and put together as always.

Rory returns the hug easily. Honor was always kind to her, and while she'd inadvertently been the bearer of bad news on occasion, she'd always been an enthusiastic advocate of her and Logan's relationship. "It's good to see you, too," she tells her.

Honor pulls away and looks around the room for a second before frowning. "Josh must be in his study, I'm going to go grab him and then we can have drinks and talk," she informs them before skittering off.

"So far so good," Rory says to Logan and nudges him in the side playfully.

Logan grins crookedly at her before reaching for her hand and pulling them both down onto the expensive sofa. She lands ungracefully on top of him with an "oomph" before wiggling into a more acceptable position.

Honor and Josh join them a moment later, the latter exchanging a handshake with Logan and a friendly greeting with Rory. From what she's gathered from Logan, Josh still isn't much of a conversationalist, Logan's not sure if the guy really has much of his own personality. Rory's not really sure if Honor leaves him a lot of room to develop one, Honor's great, but she can be a lot, but she supposes that their personalities might just balance each other out.

"Where's Eli?" Logan asks once they're all seated with a glass of wine in hand.

"He's having dinner at a friend's tonight," Honor says.

Logan frowns. "I wanted Rory to meet him." Rory was aware of this, Logan absolutely adores in nephew and had mentioned more than once yesterday how much he thought Eli would have loved the festival.

Honor grins at him and takes a sip of her wine. "As much as I love my son, he's terrible at keeping secrets. The next time our parents see him he would tell them immediately about your new relationship, and I thought that was something you two were trying to avoid for the time being."

Logan sighs in resignation and Rory rests her hand on top of his. "Fair enough. He is a really terrible liar."

"I bet that's a trait you're hoping he'll carry into his teenage years," Rory comments.

Honor and Josh laugh at that and Josh nods. "Here's hoping."

The four of them talk for awhile while the scent of their dinner begins to waft through the house, Honor asks her about her job and she talks about some of her past work and soon their maid is informing them all that dinner's ready.

They sit in their large formal dining room with a table large enough to seat twelve, but it still manages to feel casual as they dig into their meals. Conversation stays fairly light for awhile but once they hit a lull Honor takes that ask her cue to start the interrogation.

"So Rory, how's my brother been treating you?" she asks.

Next to Rory, Logan groans.

"Hush, Logan, it's just a question," Honor says as she stares him down. "Is he driving you crazy yet?" she directs at Rory.

Rory laughs a little and shakes her head. "No, not just yet. He's been great actually," she says honestly and chances a glance at Logan who smiles softly at her before leaning in to place a light kiss on her lips. Across the table Honor coos at them.

"I'm so glad you two are back together. Honestly, I mean you two were always so great together, minus the times that someone was being a complete ass," she says with a pointed look at her brother.

"Honor," Logan warns with a stern look.

Honor huffs at him and Josh silently refills wine glasses, Rory appreciates that.

"It's just a fact, Logan," Honor says, not unkindly. "Anyway, Rory, you and I must get together sometime to talk, I've heard Logan's side of everything but men are always so stingy with the details. We should do lunch sometime."

She's not surprised at the suggestion, Honor had always had a habit of saying that they should get together to go shop or grab lunch, but she'd also had the habit of being a bit flighty and nothing ever came to fruition. She nods anyway. "Sounds great."

"Fantastic," Honor says with a large grin. "I'll call you and we can work out the details."

After that Logan attempts to coax Josh into a conversation, probably hoping to avoid his sister trying to pry any more details out of either of them. It doesn't work for long.

"So tell us about the festival yesterday," Honor says once their plates are almost empty.

This is a topic Logan obviously doesn't mind, because he easily delves into the details with an enthusiasm that has Rory hiding a grin. Rory adds in a few things here and there but is mostly content to relax and let Logan regale them with stories of her home town.

"It sounds like you two really enjoyed yourselves, from what I remember Stars Hollow was absolutely adorable," Honor comments and then seems to freeze as she realizes her mistake.

With Logan's hand resting on the nape of her neck he doesn't miss the way she tenses slightly at his sister's slip up.

"When were you ever in Stars Hollow?" Logan asks with unhidden suspicion.

Honor shares a brief apologetic look with Rory before confessing to a secret that she's been keeping from her brother for seven years. "After you and Rory broke up I went to see her," she says, feigning nonchalance and ignoring Logan's darkening look. "I found her at her going away party, I just wanted to see how she was doing, Logan. I mean you dumped her on her graduation day, and I know that you were upset, and I felt for you, I really did, but I cared about Rory too. So I went to make sure that she was okay."

It had been a shock when Honor's town car had pulled up at their makeshift tent and she stepped out in her designer heels. Rory had been socializing with someone when she'd caught sight of Honor skirting her way through the crowd. The two of them had found a secluded corner to talk; she didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from Honor, if she was there to chew her out for breaking her brother's heart, but she hadn't been expecting the blonde to wrap her up in a tight hug and ask her how she was doing. It had been a bittersweet moment for sure.

"That wasn't your place, Honor," Logan says quietly.

Honor glares at him. "I'm not going to apologize."

"Of course not," Logan scoffs.

Rory feels like a spectator as the siblings sit there and duke it out. Logan seems annoyed but also maybe a bit guilty? She'll have to talk about this with him later without the pressure of other people listening in.

The tension doesn't lessen as they sit there at an impasse, until Josh suggests they bring out dessert. The man may not say much but he does the job just fine.

They discuss lighter topics until the tension bleeds out naturally, and possibly with the help of more wine; though Rory notices that Honor doesn't partake this time around, she suspects that alcohol was the cause of her slip up in the first place. It's not that Rory was intentionally keeping Honor's visit a secret; it just hadn't seemed that it was something Logan needed to know, some things are best kept just between girl friends, but now that it's out there's a different event that's niggling at the back of her mind, something that she's not sure if she really wants to tell Logan or not, though she's pretty sure Honor would vote no. But in the interest of their honestly policy it doesn't sit right with her to keep things from him, more than anything she just wants them to be able to speak freely with each other this time around, secrets are only going to weaken them eventually.

When Logan and Josh excuse themselves to Josh's study to look at something Rory uses the opportunity to breach the subject with Honor, only she beats her to the punch.

"I'm so sorry about that whole thing," Honor says.

Rory waves her off. "Don't worry about it, it's probably best that he knows anyway. But speaking of, in the interest of this whole honesty thing, I think I need to tell him about the other thing," Rory says.

Judging by the look of understanding mixed with uncertainty on Honor's face she understands perfectly well what 'thing' Rory is talking about. "He's going to be furious with me," Honor sighs and sinks further back into her chair, she looks like she could use a cigarette.

Rory can't argue with that because truthfully she's probably right, Logan won't be terribly thrilled with his sister, but he'll get over it.

"But I get it, just do me a favor and don't tell him until you're back in the city. I'd rather not be in the blast radius when he finds out. The angry phone call I'm going to get from him will be more than enough."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Rory says in an attempt to placate her. "You were just trying to help."

Honor laughs, it sounds a bit self-deprecating. "I was meddling."

"With honest intentions."

The boys join them again before Honor can say anything and Logan takes the seat on the couch right next to Rory.

"What are you two talking about?" he asks as he stretches an arm out on the back of the couch behind her head.

"None of your business, mister," Rory tells him, despite the fact that she's about to make it his business. From her spot on the armchair Honor shares a grin with Rory that has Logan glancing between the two of them suspiciously.

They head out shortly after, it's getting fairly late and they still have to drive back into the city, not to mention that they both have work in the morning. With the two of them taking separate cars due to the fact that they drove into the Stars Hollow on different days, she doesn't have the opportunity to talk to him on the drive home and the two exchange their goodbyes in Honor's driveway.

"Are you mad at her?" Rory asks him as he leans against her car.

Logan shrugs and sighs a little bit, his shoulders falling with it. "Not completely? I was at first, but I can kind of get it, she was in a tough spot. And it's not like I can't fault her for wanting to make sure you were okay."

Rory smiles softly at him and secretly hopes that he holds on to that mentality when she gets a chance to talk to him about other things. Though she supposes that they have time for at least one question.

She opens her mouth to ask about that guilty look on his face earlier before closing it, trying to find a way to word it.

"Something on your mind?" Logan asks anyway.

She sighs, she might as well ask now. "Earlier, when she was talking about coming to see me, you had this look on your face. Like you felt guilty or something?"

Logan glances up at the night sky for a moment before looking back at her and nodding. "As much as it pains me to admit it, she was right. I was an ass to you when we were together, especially on your graduation day."

"Logan," she breathes and steps forward to reach for him but he shakes his head at her.

"The only thing that should have been on your mind that day was celebrating, but instead I acted like a total jerk to you."

The air feels heavy around them and she wraps her arms around herself. She doesn't disagree with what he's saying; it had been a devastating event on what was supposed to be a happy occasion, but they've discussed this already. "Logan, I already told you that I forgive you for that. And to be fair, I'm the one that decided to give you back the ring on my graduation day."

"Yeah, but-"

She cuts him. "No, no buts. The past is in the past, it happened and we can't change it. There's no sense in wallowing over past mistakes now. You don't need to keep beating yourself up over it, honestly I'd really prefer it if you didn't."

He's quiet for a moment before nodding and giving her a small smile. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask," she says with a smile of her own. "And for the record, you were not an ass when we were together," she adds firmly.

Logan gives her a flat, disbelieving look.

"Okay, ninety-five percent of the time you were totally un-ass like," she acquiesces.

He laughs, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that makes warmth shoot through her despite the chill. "I'm gonna work on that other five percent," he promises, his eyes intense as they lock on to hers.

Nearby an owl hoots, startling her and effectively cutting into their moment and she sighs.

"We should get going," she suggests, glancing up at the almost full moon that's half hidden behind the trees.

Logan groans. "I suppose," he looks at his car with distaste and she understands completely. The idea of driving back to the city is incredibly unappealing.

She moves over to him and wraps her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest, his arms seem to automatically wind themselves around her in return. "This weekend was amazing," she says quietly, like she's sharing a secret.

She can feel Logan nodding his head in agreement. His hand gently cups her jaw and coaxes her to look at him before he ducks in for a kiss that she can feel in her toes. His fingers are warm on her cheeks and she clutches at his shirt, trying to pull him impossibly closer. Their weekend away had been just what she needed with him; she feels like it helped propel their relationship in a way that sporadic dinners and phone calls could never dream of, and she quietly hopes that they can do it again sometime soon.

"It was perfect," he replies earnestly before kissing her again. When he pulls away he tucks a strand of her hair back from her face and his thumb traces patterns on her cheek. "I'll call you tomorrow," he promises before stepping away to open Rory's car door.

She steals one last kiss before sliding in.

+

She doesn't get a chance to talk to him until Wednesday night when Logan invites her over to his place for dinner. Logan's apartment is gorgeous. It's an older building, but it had been remodeled within the last decade, holding on to that industrial loft vibe, just with a few modern touches. The décor reminds her of the apartment they shared back at Yale, a little less juvenile but still very him. Logan had the kitchen renovated when he moved in, and while Rory may not have any interest in cooking, she can definitely appreciate it. However, tonight they'd decided to forego any actual cooking and just order takeout from their favorite Thai place, nothing fancy but it suits her just fine.

They get comfortable on the couch and Logan sets up a movie while Rory organizes the food on the coffee table. For awhile they just eat in companionable silence while watching the movie and occasionally talking about their week, but after awhile Logan pauses the movie and turns to face her. Rory with a mouth full of spicy noodles, makes a small questioning noise at the act.

"Are we okay?" Logan asks suddenly, his eyes darting across her face like he's searching for the answer.

Rory quickly swallows, eyes widening at the question. "What?"

"You've just been quiet these past few days, like there's something on your mind. If I did something wrong I need you to tell me, Ace," he says, and she can hear the quiet undercurrent of vulnerability in his voice.

She shakes her head vigorously and sets aside her plate so that she can grab onto his hand as she hastens to reassure him. "Logan, no, you didn't do anything. We're totally fine, I promise," she says sincerely.

"Okay," he says slowly but he doesn’t sound relieved just yet. "Then what's going on?"

In truth it's probably the best opening she's going to get but she feels uncertain. She's been teetering back and forth between telling him and just letting the whole thing lie, but it's time to suck it up and discuss things like actual adults.

"There's something I haven't told you," she starts. "It's kind of related to what Honor told you about the other night, when she came to see me."

"What did she do?" Logan sighs.

She releases her hold on his hand and brushes her fingers over her hair as she collects her thoughts. "About five months after we broke up, Honor called me. She told me that you weren't doing well and she was really worried about you. She didn't go into any details, but she asked me if I would try to talk to you, she thought I would be able to help."

Logan's face hardens and his jaw clenches but he doesn't say anything. Moments go by in tense silence before he finally speaks. "She shouldn't have put you in that position."

Rory shrugs. "She's your sister, she just wanted to help."

"What did you say to her?" he asks quietly.

Rory gnaws at her bottom lip for a minute before answering. "I didn't really say anything. She didn't try to pressure me into talking to you or anything, I just said I needed to think. And I did, a lot." That gets a little huff of a laugh from Logan but it's hollow. "I thought about calling you, or writing you, that one seemed like the easiest option. At one point I thought about just buying a plane ticket and going to you." Out of the corner of her eye she sees Logan look up at that but she keeps her gaze on the coffee table. "But I couldn't make myself do any of it, I wasn't ready to face you," she admits. She'd felt so incredibly guilty every time she'd sat down in front of a blank screen or piece of paper, every time she'd come across his number in her phone, but she'd been hurting so bad and deep down she knew if she opened up a line of communication with him she'd throw away everything just to see him again, and her work was too important to just blow it off for something that wasn't even guaranteed.

"Rory, I'm sorry," he says and his tone makes her look at him. The look on his face can only be called defeated.

"It's okay," she attempts to soothe but he shakes his head at her.

"No, it's not. You should have never been made to feel like you had to choose between yourself and me. You shouldn't have been involved at all, we'd broken up and it wasn't right for Honor to do that to you," he says, his voice going hard. She has a feeling Honor is definitely going to be getting that phone call tonight once she goes home.

In truth, she knows Logan is right, she'd thought the same things back when Honor had called her and she'd been losing sleep over her options. But she'd also been thinking about what Logan would have done had their positions been reversed, and while she couldn't be sure, she'd had the feeling that he would have at least done something. That thought had only made her feel worse, but she'd worked through the guilt eventually, she'd gotten through all the uncertainty and moved on. So there's no reason for Logan to be sitting here now looking like he's been sucker punched.

She twists in her seat until she's facing him and holds both his hands in hers. "Logan, listen to me. Look, it may not have been her finest idea, but her heart was in the right place. It happened so long ago and I'm fine. Yes it was hard and it sucked for awhile, but I never blamed her and you shouldn't either."

The look he gives her is skeptical. "I'm gonna blame her a little," he says after a minute, but there's a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

Rory laughs quietly and shakes her head before squeezing his hand. "Are we okay?" she echoes his earlier question.

Logan tugs her closer until she's up against his side and he presses a kiss to the top of her head. "We're okay," he promises.

They go back to their food and movie and it's fine but there's a thought niggling at the back of her mind and it's getting increasingly hard to ignore. It's a question she told herself that she wasn't going to ask, she really wasn't, but it's going to drive her crazy if she keeps ignoring it.

"Logan?" she says softly, uncertainty creeping into her voice.

"Yeah?" he asks, shifting around to look at her.

She bites at her lip for a second before deciding to bite the bullet instead. "Honor never really told me, and I didn't ask, but what was going on? I mean it had to have been serious for her to call me, right?"

She remembers getting the call while she was on a bus heading to another destination on the campaign trail. She remembers how stressed and worried Honor had sounded when she told her something was wrong with Logan. And she remembers the way her stomach had filled with dread and the way her heart ached at the sound of his name. But Honor didn't go into the details, and Rory hadn't felt steady enough to ask for them, but she's asking now.

Logan scrubs a hand through his hair and doesn't look at her. "I was," he stops and sighs, taking a moment before starting again. "I was a mess," he says honestly. "I was trying so hard to not think about the break up, about you in general. I was working non-stop, more than I needed to be, and when I wasn't at the office I was out, drinking, partying, whatever I could find to keep my mind off things."

He pauses and Rory swallows thickly. They haven't talked about this, the aftermath of their breakup. They've talked about their jobs, and friends, and life in general, but not the emotions, not the nitty gritty details of what it was really like post breakup. She understands Logan's reaction wholeheartedly. She's said it before, but going straight into her job had been an absolute blessing in more ways than just what it did for her career. Hesitantly she reaches out and places her hand in his, Logan squeezes it gently and holds it between his own.

"I was running myself ragged. Honor was right to be worried," he admits. "But I stand by what I said earlier, what she did was out of line."

Rory nods and rests her head on his shoulder. "I know," she says softly. There's a lingering feeling of guilt swimming around in her and she does her best to shove it away. Logically, she knows she shouldn't feel guilty for putting herself first in a less than ideal situation, but she accepts the fact that knowing that Logan was hurting is always going to feel crappy.

They stay like that for awhile, just resting against each other and letting the conversation wash over them. Things like this will probably come up from time to time now, she assumes. They've got a long and rocky past and there will be other topics that they need to clear up but it's okay, it's a necessary thing for them to go through so that they can grow together and learn from past mistakes. They both knew going into this that these things will happen, and she suspects that it won't always be pleasant, but she's ready for it, she's willing to fight for it, for what they have and these little bumps in the road aren't going to derail her this time around.

When their food is gone she ends up cuddled into his side, head on his chest, her arm across his stomach and his arms curled around her. Despite their earlier conversation, it's practically blissful and she finds her mind wandering rather than focusing on the movie. It doesn't really settle on anything specific; she thinks about moments from their past, things that have just happened, and an endless litany of possibilities and what-ifs that surround their future. Every thought is just a little blip on the radar, gone in a flash, but they leave her with a sense of hopefulness that settles firmly in her chest.

Twisting a little she presses a kiss to the collarbone that's peeking out over his shirt and sighs contentedly before burrowing closer to him. His hand strokes along her back before settling on her hip, the weight warm and reassuring. Logan hasn't said much in awhile, no doubt thinking about what his sister did, but he seems calm now, like he's accepting it. She knows he's not just going to let it lie, Honor will definitely be told off for her actions, but he's not mad and that's an improvement. Best of all it didn't seem to have any negative effects on their relationship, not that she necessarily thought it _would_ , but it was one of the possible outcomes she had planned for. It's possible that being open and honest like this will actually pave the way for future conversations that maybe would have been buried away in the past, at least she's hoping that it will have that sort of outcome.

She moves to leave shortly after the movie is over, because regrettably she has work in the morning and with the exception of her birthday night with the boys, they haven't actually done the whole staying the night thing yet. Though she's really hoping that they're going to work their way up to that, and soon.

"Are you okay?" Rory asks as they stand at the doorway of his apartment across from each other.

Logan nods. "Yeah. I mean I'm feeling vaguely humiliated that my sister called you to tell you what a mess I was, but other than that I'm okay," he says lightly but she hear the edges of truth tucked in there.

For a moment she thinks about telling him about the time she exploded all over the campus therapist about their relationship so he can see what a real mess is, but she can't decide if it would make him feel better or worse so she shelves it for another time. "If you want to be embarrassed about something, be embarrassed about the time you and your boys crashed my lecture and caused a massive scene."

Logan laughs, his face breaking into a wide grin and effectively wiping off the last of the tension that had been clinging to him throughout the evening. "You're still holding on to that?"

"It was humiliating!" she cries.

Logan's grin turns sly as he moves in closer to her, hands casually shoved into his jean pockets. "Oh come on, you can't honestly tell me that you don't find it the least bit amusing."

They're close enough that she can feel the heat radiating off him and it's honestly unfair how good he looks, especially when he smiles like that. It's all she can do really to keep herself from tugging him closer, but she stands her ground. "It was not funny."

The tips of his fingers skim up her arm until they brush across her neck, and it really shouldn't be so sensual but apparently it is. He ducks in closer, lips practically brushing against the shell of her ear when he asks in a low voice, "Not even a tiny bit?" His other hand finds its way under her shirt to rest against the skin of her hip and squeezes just enough.

Which is completely unfair and a majorly dirty tactic, but it doesn't stop the shivers racing down her spine.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she says, but her voice has gone breathy without her permission.

She can feel his grin against the skin of her neck before he leaves soft kisses there.

"What am I doing?" he asks before gently tilting her head the other way to get access to the other side of her neck before continuing his exploration.

Really she should receive an award for holding out as long as she has, she's made an admirable effort but she has _needs_ , okay? She pushes at his chest until he looks up at her and then she's pushing him back to the nearest wall and firmly planting her mouth against his. Logan gets on board quickly, his hands roaming and lips sliding wonderfully against hers. She hardly even notices when he manages to flip their positions so that her back is against the wall, she's too busy trying to get him even _closer_. He's got her biting back breathy little moans and the only thing on her mind is _more_.

So when they pull apart for air it's like a shock to her system when reality sinks in. As much as every fiber of her being is urging her to continue, to tug him through his bedroom door and let him do as pleases, the rational part of her that's still functioning is reminding her of her duties. It's already fairly late and she has work early in the morning. Staying over would mean having to get up extra early to make it home in time to get ready, and leaving right after sex doesn't sound appealing, so really she only has one option here.

"I should go," she says, more than a little breathy and definitely disappointed.

Logan looks adorably confused for a second before he seems to understand and he nods. "Right," he says, and she feels a bit smug about the fact that he sounds just as affected as she does.

They exchange their goodbyes, a few more kisses, and make plans to make plans, and once she's in the elevator she takes a second to just breathe. That passion, that undeniable need is something she hasn't felt in ages, something she hadn't even completely realized she was missing. But she'd gotten a taste for it again tonight and it was like rediscovering a favorite food, and now that she's had a sample she wants the whole meal.

Leaning heavily against the elevator wall she lets out a deep breath. This whole taking it slow thing just became a lot harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come hang out with me on tumblr and we can talk about these two cuties getting back together   
> http://loqanhuntzberger.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> And there we have it, the ending to the beginning of my newest fic. I've been working on this for awhile, and i have quite a bit written already, but I've been a little stuck lately and i could really use some feedback to get me going again. So please leave a comment and let me know how you enjoyed it


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